Deeper Drive
by Cecania
Summary: Set in the modern era, the SDK cast is faced with all the typical challenges that come with being teenagers and some that are not so typical. Couples will be announced later.
1. Mornings

**A/N: **Woo! So this be my first story up on and well…gah, why am I always so nervous about doing this. Oh, well. So yeah, this is a high school story that I got inspired to write after I read the translated little mini comic that comes with the art book I believe. First off I'm going to say that yes, some of the families may seem strange and that you probably can't understand why I grouped them the way I did, but it's my story and I thought it would be more interesting that way. Second, there are spoilers in here, mostly mild ones because I don't want to give away too much, but sometimes it can't be helped. So for those of you who don't read these things and just toodle on to the story I'll put it in big letters so it will maybe catch your attention. **THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, DON'T READ!** Oh, two more quick things. You might notice that some things in the story are almost identical to the actual story and that's because I'm trying to keep it as close to the original story. I'm going by the manga by the way since I haven't had a chance to watch the anime yet. The last thing is that there is some foul language in here, but if you've read the manga it's no worse than what appears in there.

**Disclaimer: **…Do I look like Akimine Kamijyo to you? No. Good. That means I don't own nothing that involves Samurai Deeper.

Now! Enough rambling and on to the story!

For most people, mornings were the most horrible part of the day. Not only did it disrupt what may have been the most wonderful dreams ever dreamt in the history of main, they also signalled the slow start of the widely looked down upon thinking process. Some people merely need a few shots of liquid caffeine, also known as coffee, and they were ready to go in the morning, while others needed to down the entire contents of the pot before they could even form an intelligent word let alone even the tiniest of thought processes. Of course we are excluding those very few who roll out of their bed and are ready to greet the world with a smile and kind word, those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed people mainly due to the fact that they tend to irritate the rest who do firmly believe that it is highly illegal to be that chipper in the morning for no other reason than that they are awake.

Depending on how a person wakes up in the morning usually has a great impact on how they great the world. If the gentle callings of a loved one, the smell of a good breakfast or even the soft sounds of a favourite song, rouse one from their slumber that one tends to have a better out look on the day. However, the opposite is also very true in that if the sharp rings of an overly annoying alarm clock, the screaming of underfed teenagers downstairs fighting over the last pop tart or harsh blaring of speakers from the next room is what awakes one from their sleep you can expect that one to be overly grumpy and treat the day as if it were an all around bad omen.

In this world, there are many ways that each person greets the morning and the day that follows it. Isn't it funny that on one small stretch of street all of the above occurs in the single hour between waking up and getting to that overly credited institution commonly referred to as school?

Yawning as she stretched her arms above her head, the blonde girl blinked wearily as she stared up at the ceiling of her room. She could hear the sounds of water running for the shower and the gentle clacking of dishes downstairs, signalling that both of her family members were up and about. Pushing herself up, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and swung her feet back and forth lazily, staring out the window at what looked like it was going to be a gorgeous day.

Hopping off the bed, she shuffled over to the doorway, grabbing a house coat as she went. Absently slinging it on as she trudged down the hall, her nose picked up the delicious aromas of what smelt like a waffle breakfast. Moving down the stairs at a pace that probably would have scared her if she had been more awake to realise it, she headed straight for the kitchen and grinned as she saw that her nose had not led her wrong.

"Good morning, Yuya!" the young woman making the waffles said with a grin for the other. "Sit right down and I'll have these all ready for you!"

Green eyes warily considered the other girl. "Uh, I thought nii-sama was in charge of making breakfast," she said slowly.

Chocolate eyes sparkled at her as the cooking girl said, "I wanted to do it today so he said I could! He mentioned something about keeping the fire extinguisher close by but I don't really know what he was talking about."

Yuya stared at her in shock before yelping as a small flame leapt to life in waffle maker. Both girls sprang for the waffle maker and Yuya finally put it out by grabbing the aforementioned fire extinguisher. Both green and brown eyes stared at the mess, one in annoyance and one in shock at what had happened. Grumbling to herself at the loss of what looked like a good breakfast, Yuya dumped the contents of the waffle iron into the garbage.

"Did you start another fire, Sakuya?" an amused voice asked from the doorway.

Both girls turned to find a grinning man standing there, dressed in a business suit with a towel draped over his wet hair. "Nozomu, I didn't do it on purpose and Yuya helped me put it out so it's okay, isn't it?" Sakuya said quickly, glancing between her two siblings.

The man chuckled slightly as he looked over at Yuya. "Don't look so grumpy, Yuya-chan," he said, his grin growing. "There's still time for me to make some more."

Yuya's lips twitched in a smile. "Really?"

"Yes. Go have your shower and they'll be ready when you get back down. Sakuya-chan, why don't you get the table set up and maybe make some tea?"

"Alright, Nozomu!"

Yuya glanced at the overly chipper girl who had almost burnt the kitchen down and shook her head. Walking out of the kitchen again, she silently wondered how her adopted sister could be so happy after incidents like that, but she finally figured that since they happened so often to Sakuya the other girl just wrote them off as being normal.

Trudging back up the stairs, the young woman sighed as she made her way to the hallway bathroom. Closing the door behind her with a sigh, she shuffled over to the shower stall and hesitantly turned it on, dodging the first spray of cold water. Closing the door as she waited for the water to warm up, she moved over to the window and, after a moment's thought, peaked through the curtains covering the glass at the house next door. Green eyes narrowed slightly as she saw that there seemed to be no one near any of the windows of the other house, but she had learned from personal experience that just because it did not look like anyone was there did not mean that it was true.

Her eyes narrowed fully when she saw someone walk by the window, but her face scrunched up in disgust when she saw that said person did not seem to be wearing anything. Moving away from the window, she turned to the shower stall and shrugged out of her house coat. Pulling off the t-shirt she had slept in, the young woman slipped into the shower and shivered as the warm water slid over her skin.

Wasting no time enjoying the warmth, Yuya quickly rushed through her morning routine, her mind focused on the breakfast that her older brother had promised her. Wrapping a towel around her as she stepped out of the shower, her eyes once again flew to the window to see if the curtains had moved and her face relaxed when she saw that the window was still covered. Scooping her discarded clothing up off the floor, she hurried across the hallway into her room, tossing her clothing into the waste basket on the far side of the room.

Pulling her uniform from her dresser, she hurriedly dried herself off before whipping the towel in the direction her clothes had gone. Tugging her shirt on, she growled at herself as she realised that she had forgotten to put on a bra, but shrugged it off as she shimmied into her underwear and skirt. Hopping around her room as she tried to put on her socks, her stomach growled angrily as her nose once again picked up the delicious aroma of waffles wafting upstairs from the kitchen.

Shaking out her hair, she drug a brush through it before tying it back with a single white ribbon at the base of her neck. Looking at herself briefly in the mirror, she nodded to herself with a smile and ran out of the room. She squeaked sharply when she stepped out of her room and almost ran right into Sakuya. The two girls swayed slightly, Sakuya falling against the wall and Yuya stumbling back against the door frame.

"Sakuya!" Yuya wailed slightly. "You have to make more noise than that!"

"I'm sorry, Yuya, but Nozomu wanted me to tell you that the waffles and tea are ready."

Green eyes lit up and Yuya brushed aside her earlier ire. "Well, that's good! Let's go!"

Sakuya squeaked herself as the younger girl tugged on her arm, dragging her down the hallway back towards the kitchen. "Yuya, I have to get ready!"

"But what about waffles?"

"I'll eat them after I'm ready."

Yuya looked at her and shrugged as she let go of her sister's arm. "Fine, but they won't be as good if you don't eat them when they're warm," she said as she ran down the hallway to the stairs.

She got a laugh from Nozomu when she bounded into the kitchen, heading straight to the table that had a stack of waffles set on a plate sitting at her spot.

"Yuya-chan, you are rare indeed," he said with a fond smile as the girl attacked the breakfast. "All it takes is a breakfast and your day suddenly got that much better."

Yuya nodded, but did not say anything as she kept eating.

Sipping at his tea, Nozomu continued to smile behind the rim of his cup. Life in the Shiina house was always interesting, between Sakuya's clumsiness and Yuya's mood swings there was never a dull moment at the residence. Watching the girl eat, he felt his heart jump slightly in his chest as he remembered the day he first saw his youngest sister and the vow he had made to himself to never stop protecting his younger sisters. He knew that even if he did nothing else in his life, but keep them safe it would be enough.

Yuya paused as she felt eyes on her and she looked up to blink at her brother. "Nozomu, is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, Yuya-chan," he murmured, his voice fond. "Eat your waffles."

She looked at him for a moment longer before her eyes fell back to her plate to finish eating. She barely looked up as Sakuya came into the kitchen and a small giggle left her as her older sister almost missed her chair as she sat down. "You feeling alright, Sakuya?" she asked around her waffles, looking at her sister with dancing eyes. "You thinking about those Mibu twins again?"

A soft blush covered the older girl's cheek and she shook her head. "I'm not thinking about both of them, Yuya," she said quietly, her soft voice embarrassed. "I was thinking about Kyoshiro."

Yuya's lips pursed at that and she glanced at her brother to find him shaking his head slowly. "So does that mean that you're going out with Kyoshiro?" she asked slowly, treading carefully on the latest hot topic of the house.

Sakuya played with the strawberries on her waffles, the blush on her cheeks slowly matching the colour of the fruit.

"Sakuya?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"Well, it's nice to see you finally made a choice," Nozomu said as he placed his tea cup down on the counter near the sink. "Now I won't have to put up with the fights between those boys."

Sakuya's blush deepened while Yuya's face grew clouded as she too began to toy with her breakfast.

"Are you two going to be alright if I leave? There's a new trial coming up and I wanted to get there early."

"Go ahead," Yuya chirped, pasting her grin back on her face.

Sakuya nodded with a smile and a wave as Nozomu left the room.

The two girls fell into silence as they waited for the front door to open and close signalling their brother's departure. When the click came, Yuya slammed her fork down, startling her sister.

"Yuya, is something wrong?"

Pointing her finger at Sakuya who flinched at the motion, Yuya slowly said, "You've spent the past two years going out on dates with the two of them and you honestly expect me to believe that you chose Kyoshiro when you always talked about how fun and exciting your dates with Kyo were?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it's true."

Green eyes were dubious. "Why Kyoshiro?" she asked finally. "Like I said, you always seemed to come home happier after dates with Kyo."

Sakuya absently spun her tea cup in her hands, staring down into the steaming liquid. "I asked myself the same question and I'm still asking myself that question," she said quietly. "When I'm with Kyoshiro, I have fun, I laugh, I feel safe and loved. When I'm with Kyo, it's a constant change, I never know what's going to happen next, I don't know what he's thinking or if he even feels anything truly for me. I started thinking about the differences between the two of them and while there are similarities, they are as different as night and day. I love the feeling of protection I get from Kyoshiro, but at the same time I adore the fact that Kyo lets me fend for myself. What it really comes down to, why I chose Kyoshiro, is that I don't have to truly worry about what Kyoshiro's doing. With Kyo, there's all the things he might be involved in, but I don't know because he never tells me and I don't know if I can handle not knowing what's going on with the other half of my relationship."

"So you went for stable instead of fun?"

"Kyoshiro's fun!" Sakuya protested sharply.

"Uh huh, so why haven't you given up on Kyo then?"

"I just can't," she sighed. "I've tried to forget him, but I can't help wondering what he's doing, if he's thinking about me, if he's mad at Kyoshiro and me."

Green eyes rolled on a huffed laugh. "Mad? I hate to be the one to break this to you, Sakuya, but Kyo's just one walking ball of rage. He's mad at everything."

Sakuya shook her head slowly. "No, he's not," she mumbled, "but he never lets anyone know that."

Standing up with a groan, Yuya missed the soft comment as she headed for the sink to deposit her plate. "So are you ready for another day of fun and excitement at that big scary building we have to go to all the time?" she asked dryly, turning back as her sister brought her dishes as well.

"It's not that bad, Yuya," Sakuya scolded, her lips twitching upwards despite herself.

"Says you."

"I'm going to walk with Kyoshiro this morning. Is Mahiro going to walk with you?"

"Probably," Yuya said as she moved out of the kitchen. "She and Tokito said they'd stop by before they went to school."

"Alright, well I'll see you later then!" Sakuya said with a wave.

Yuya paused slightly as she picked up her bag and glanced back at the kitchen. "Uh, Sakuya, what are you doing?" she called.

"I was going to do the dishes before we left."

Her mind coming up with every possible thing that could go wrong, Yuya hurried back to the kitchen's entrance and shook her head at her sister. "Don't worry about it. I'll come home at lunch and do it," she said quickly when she got a funny look.

"Oh, it's really no problem, Yuya! I'll get them done!"

Chewing on her lower lip, Yuya slowly made her way back to the door, her body tensed and ready to spring back to the kitchen at the slightest sound of something going wrong. When no noise came, she sighed to herself and opened the front door. Three startled noises escaped Yuya and the two on the other side of the door.

"Yeesh, Yuya," the dark haired one said with a shake of her head. "Give us some warning will you?"

"How was I supposed to know you were there! I can't see through wood!"

The paler girl smirked at that and skipped down the steps. "I could have told you it was going to happen if you'd listened to me this morning," she crooned as she started down the walkway towards the sidewalk.

"Ugh, here we go again! Tokito, you can't really tell the future with those cards!"

"Yes, I can, Mahiro. You just don't like it because nothing good ever happens to you!" the other called back.

"And I bet that's because you're in charge of the cards and you won't be happy unless I'm miserable," Mahiro muttered as Yuya closed the door.

The blond girl laughed at that and shook her head. "Oh, leave her be, Mahiro. Where's the harm in her thinking that they actually do work?"

Dark eyes looked at her friend and she dryly said, "What about when she does a reading and then goes on and on to the whole class about how this person's going to die a most tragic death?"

Yuya blinked. "She did that?"

"Mmm, terrorized the poor kid. I don't think he's been back to school and she did that so called reading three weeks ago."

"Oh dear," Yuya muttered, looking ahead to where Tokito was happily walking a large distance away from them. "Has she done anything like that since?"

Mahiro shook her head. "No, not really. Mother told her that it wasn't nice to do that to people and then ruined it all by saying even if it is true. I have got to be born into the weirdest family on this stupid street!"

"I don't know about that, Mahiro," Yuya said dubiously. "I mean look at the Sanada family or even that group that dorms together."

"That last group isn't family though," Mahiro pointed out. "They just live together to save money on the bills."

"Well, they're still weirder than your family."

Rolling her eyes, Mahiro gave her friend a push before looking up at her sister and groaning. "Oh great," she growled. "Tokito has found her newest little subject to torture."

"Oh, poor Akira," Yuya murmured, watching the young man turn a cold shoulder to Tokito who was busily telling him about the latest reading she had done for him. "I don't understand how he can stand it. She never leaves him alone when she sees him and it's got to get annoying."

"Hn, sounds like someone I know."

Both girls jumped and looked over at the speaker. Yuya huffed in annoyance, her hands landing on her hips. "Mibu Kyo, you have got to be the most insufferable person on this planet!"

A black brow lifted in slight amusement, but nothing showed in his crimson eyes. "I don't think so, dog face," he corrected as he walked by the girls. "You have the honour of holding that title," he called over his shoulder.

Yuya clenched both teeth and fists. "Oh, I'd like to beat him senseless," she growled under her breath.

"Uh huh," Mahiro said dryly. "You're going to take out Kyo, who happens to be a good eight inches taller than you, has practised martial arts since he was little and says shit like that for no other reason than to get you mad?"

Green eyes flicked to her before moving onto the back of Kyo as he walked past Akira and Tokito, causing Akira to pick up his pace to walk with his adored older brother. "Pff, just you wait," she promised Mahiro. "I'll show him before he graduates."

"Don't mind me if I don't hold my breath. Oh, why do all these weird people live on this street!" Mahiro moaned as she saw a large group of teenagers on the far side of the street.

Yuya smiled to herself and looked over at the group. Mahiro was right though. There were a lot of strange people living on this street, but since they were all weird they seemed to get along, for the most part. There was the odd disturbance every now and then, but those were usually sibling rivalries that just spilled out of the house and onto the street.

The street itself was simple enough, a dead end street that had a park at the end of it which was frequently used over the summer for the various birthday parties and anniversaries that occurred within the families. Ten houses lined the street, five on either side and not one of them was similar to any of the others. The same went for the front yards in front of each house, each reflecting the mind set of the people who lived in the house just behind. Most of the parents on the street had grown up together or knew each other from high school and the children often wondered if they had forced the previous owners off of the street so that they could all live near each other once again.

Shaking her head as she heard the argument coming from across the street, Yuya sighed as she watched a pale haired boy shout at a darker haired one who did not look like he was truly listen to the tirade.

"Looks like Shinrei got up on the wrong side of bed again," Mahiro muttered.

"Mmm, maybe Hotaru woke him up again. It can't be fun having someone try to light your hair on fire if you don't get up before him."

Mahiro snickered, saying, "I'm sure there's a better reason for why Hotaru does that, Yuya."

Yuya's expression was sceptical. "I don't know, Mahiro. I mean, it is Hotaru we're talking about here."

Mahiro made a face before laughing. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," she said as they spotted Hotaru leaning against the fence around his front yard. Grabbing Yuya's hand, she started running across the street towards the blond, dragging her friend with her.

"Mahiro! You don't have to yank my arm off!" Yuya protested as the girl slowed.

"Hush. Morning, Hotaru!"

Gold eyes lifted to blink at her.

Jerking her head over her shoulder, Mahiro asked, "Did you finally get him?"

Hotaru's lips twitched as he shook his head. "I almost did," he said slowly, "but he woke up faster than I thought."

Both girls looked over at Shinrei and started searching his pale hair for singe marks.

"I can't wait until it actually works," Yuya muttered as they turned back to Hotaru, who was once again staring off into space.

Mahiro grinned. "Can you imagine if he did it before grad? Shinrei would freak…well, even more so than usual. Honestly, Hotaru, I don't know how you can stand having him for a brother."

Shoulders encased in the black jacket of the school uniform lifted and fell in a shrug. "You learn to ignore it," he said as he pushed away from the fence. Looking at the girls, he asked, "Are you walking with me?"

The two looked at each other before shrugging. "Sure," they both said, each one moving to one side of Hotaru.

"Keikoku! Where are you going!"

The trio stopped to look back at the person who had shouted at them.

Hotaru shrugged again. "School?"

"I wasn't done with you before that Sanada brat showed up!"

Rolling her eyes, Mahiro planted her hands on her hips and glared at the speaker. "Give it a rest, Shinrei. So he tried to light your hair on fire. How many times have you tried to drown him and you don't see him yelling at you about it."

Shinrei's gold eyes grew irritated before smug. "Need the girls to protect you, eh, Keikoku?" he sneered.

Hotaru glanced at the two girls and shook his head after a moment. "No, not really," he said absently. "I know where you sleep so it doesn't really matter."

Yuya and Mahiro both bit down on a laugh as Shinrei flushed in anger and they each grabbed one of Hotaru's arms as they tugged him away from his explosive older brother. They finally laughed when they heard an aggravated noise come from behind them, Hotaru even smirking at the sound.

"I don't understand how anyone can be so grumpy in the morning," Mahiro murmured as she looped her arm through Hotaru's. "I mean even on the days where you don't try to turn him into a human flame thrower he's still all pissy."

"He's been like that for as long as I can remember."

Yuya shook her head, also looping her arm through Hotaru's. "I think it's this street. It does something to people."

"Pff, yeah right, Yuya," Mahiro said with a laugh.

"I think Yuya's right. Everyone on this street's messed up."

Poking his side, Yuya laughed when he flinched away from her. "And you know from experience, eh, Hotaru?"

He looked down at her before shrugging again. "Sure. I live on the street don't I?"

The girls shared a look before rolling there eyes. Discussions with Hotaru were always like this. Both girls were positive that somewhere, deep within the mess of his mind, there was an intelligence that would startle most people, but they never pushed to find it, knowing that Hotaru had never really been the same since his mother had died.

"Hotaru! What are you doing with my girl!"

A groan left Yuya as the voice washed over them. Looking over her shoulder at the speaker, she called, "I am not your girl, Tora! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"You shouldn't say things like that, Yuya. People might start to think that you're serious."

Rolling her eyes, Yuya turned to look where they were going, pointedly ignoring the gushy words coming out of the mouth of the idiot behind her.

"I could get rid of him if you wanted me to," Hotaru said softly, jerking his head back at Tora when Yuya looked up at him.

"Aw, that's sweet, Hotaru, but I don't want you to get in more trouble for doing something stupid like that."

Hotaru stared at her for a moment longer before he blinked and looked away. "If you say so," he mumbled.

"Besides," Yuya said slyly, "Mahiro wouldn't like it if we got rid of him."

Mahiro gasped and glared at her friend after she had gotten over her shock. "Yuya, you promised!"

"Did I?" Yuya said innocently.

"If you bring it up one more time, I'll get Kyo to make your life a living hell!"

"Hey! You leave your cousin out of this! I have enough problems with that family as it is! I don't need you stirring the pot anymore than it already is!"

Wincing slightly as the two girls on either side of him continued to argue, Hotaru slipped his arms out of theirs and covered their mouths. "You're too loud," he said simply when they both looked at him.

They stared at him for a moment before laughing and moving his hands. They all froze slightly when they heard a bell ring and, with a few soft curses, the girls tightened their grips on Hotaru's hands before bolting for the school.

**A/N:** Well, that's it for now and I won't say much down here since I took up so much space at the beginning. I hope you enjoyed and please leave reviews! Oh and if you want to know how I've divided up the families just say so and I'll take the time to explain it.


	2. Deep Thoughts From Kyo

**A/N:** Hello again! Well, I'm not too good with coming up with things to say about my stories so I'll just send out a couple thanks to the reviewers and answer a couple questions.

**Kag**…I said it before and I'll say it again…you are so biased!...but I luv chu anyways! Oh and you might want to actually read this chapter since I did change some things since the last time you saw it!

**Rin Amaru**…Holy crab apples, I can't believe you read my story. I'm glad you liked the interaction between the characters because that's the best part of writing this story. Thanks for pointing out the whole Kyo not being mean enough to Yuya. When I first wrote it, I thought it didn't look right, but I was so tired of going back and changing things that I just left it alone…that and I didn't really know what else to put…must be the lazy gene kicking in again.

**The Sinner of Anger**…Thanks for the support. It's nice to know that people do like what I write!

**Virtue no Hikari**…laughs Okay the whole thing with me bringing up the eye colour a lot is an old habit I got into to piss of my English teacher in high school. The other reason I bring it up a lot is because it's the easiest feature I've found to identify with, but I'll try to cut back because there's no point beating people over the head with the fact that her eyes are green. Ah yes…grammar. Oh, how I loathe thee! Yeah, I usually do that, but I wasn't really planning on going anywhere with the story and the person I usually get to do is too busy with school to help me…and will probably kill me for saying that, but yeah. I will try the whole printing out thing again. Lack of dialogue…that would come from my friends picking my stories apart and telling me that I had people talk too much. Heh, this isn't really my first fanfic, it's just the first I've put up on this site. I have a tendency to not sharing when it comes to my stories. Yes, this is an AU fic, but I'm trying to keep as many things as possible similar to the original story in the manga. That's why the ages are all screwy. I could have down it properly, but it wouldn't have worked for the story line I had planned out. Not mind long reviews? Ha! I love it! Especially when you're only trying to help! I love hearing what people think about my stories!

…So much for keeping this short…anywho, without further ado, I give you chapter two!...Shut up, Kag…

**Disclaimer:** looking in mirror Nope, still not Akimine Kamijyo, so that would mean that I don't own.

…P.S. There's some minor language in this chapter courtesy of Kyo's foul tongue…it's not that bad but I thought I'd warn you anyways.

Groans filled the auditorium as the entire school filtered into the room, called out of class by the principal for some unknown reason. People were jostling each other around as students searched for seats near friends and a few sharp cries rang out as some boys took the opportunity to grope a girl trying to get past them.

Sitting near the back, Kyo watched all of this without seeing any of it. His gaze was locked on the small podium stand that the principal would use to deliver his speech, but he did not really see it. His mind was too busy going over the events that had happened a few nights before.

He could still see everything and all it did was serve to piss him off even more than he already was. He had taken Sakuya out for a walk after their date because she had said she wanted to get some air. Normally he would not have listened to her, but something about the way she was acting had gotten his attention so he had yielded to her request. Walking amid the fake cherry trees, the feeling that something was wrong had grown, especially when she had wandered away from him to stare up at the moon through the leaves. Keeping his distance from her, he had leaned back against a tree that was directly across from where she was standing and lit a cigarette as he waited for whatever she wanted to tell him. He was not one for all of this beating around the bush, being more of a kill them all and let god sort them out type, so her hesitant nature was starting to get on his nerves.

_"Kyo…."_

_"Hn?"_

_"Are you listening?"  
_

_"Hn."_

_"Are you really listening?"_

_"…Yes."_

_"I believe in you more than anything else…so please come to see me again afterwards."_

He had frowned in confusion at that, but did not say anything as she continued to speak.

_"I'm embarrassed about this, but…I love you."_

His entire body had frozen at her whispered words and it had been a good while before he got his muscles to relax enough to allow him to breath, but before he had the chance to respond to her statement she started speaking again.

_"But I can't be with you."_

He had stared at her back in shock before red hot anger had surged through his body. _"Kyoshiro,"_ he had growled.

_"Yes. Kyo, I'm s-"_

_"Save it. I don't want to hear it."_

_"Kyo, please understand!"_

He had shook his head and started to walk away.

_"Kyo, wait, please!"_

_"I don't want to hear it! You chose that bastard and you can have him. I don't want to know all the little details so spare me. I'm leaving."_

"Mmm, Kyo-san, is it true that Sakuya dumped you for your brother?" a seductive voice purred, interrupting his thoughts.

The rage sleeping within his chest roared to life at the comment and crimson eyes snapped onto the girl who had spoken. "What the hell do you want, fox-bitch?" he snapped.

"Merely to see if the great demon eyes Kyo has been scorned by a mere woman."

Kyo glared at her for a moment before he looked away. "Hn, as if I'd let something like that happen," he scoffed. His body tensed slightly when he felt soft hands start feathering along his arm, but nothing showed on his face. "Stop touching me, bitch," he growled.

"Don't be like that, Kyo-san," she purred.

Crimson eyes burned with hatred as they swung back to look at the girl, fully intending to snap her hands off when he caught sight of two startled faces he knew so well. His mind quickly came up with a plan to show them that he did not care about their new relationship and, before he could think about it for too long, he grabbed the girl next to him. Jerking her forward, he pressed his lips to hers in a harsh kiss, ignoring her startled gasp. His eyes did not close in happiness like the girl's, instead his narrowed as he covertly watched as both Sakuya and his twin paled and hurried away.

Breaking the kiss roughly, he continued to watch as they went down several flights until they finally sat down with Sakuya's sister and her friends. A small frown touched his lips as he watched the happy group. They all lived on the same street, that stupid Deeper Drive, thanks to their parents' overly idiotic desire to all stay together, but even when they had been young he had never really been part of the group. He had always stayed by himself, watching as they played and occasionally picking fights with a select few, like Yukimura, who put up a good fight, but always laughed it off in the end thoroughly ruining the fun and Shinrei, who was so easy to rile up that it only took a few words to get the other swinging. While he would never admit it to her, the person he enjoyed bugging the most was Yuya. Silently, he used her name, but it was always dog face or ugly if he actually spoke to her which was usually enough to spark her temper.

Kyoshiro had once accused him of doing it solely because he was the only one who could make her mad with a single word and that he got some kind of perverse pleasure out of it. He had laughed it off. Why would he care about something like that? Besides was his twin not the perverted one, always hanging by the window waiting to see one of the Shiina girls getting out of the shower?

His eyes narrowed even more as he saw that his youngest brother was seated next to a laughing Yuya and that he seemed to be the reason why she was laughing. Kyo never did understand that. Of all the kids that lived on Deeper Drive, she was friends with all of them, but he did not care about the rest of them. He did not like it when she was around Akira because she turned the normally stoic, cold young man into an every day teenager and Kyo did not like the fact that someone besides himself had that effect on Akira.

He snorted when he saw that almost the entire Deeper Drove, as they were referred to, had somehow found its way to surround Yuya. All of the Kajiya kids who were still in high school, a grand total of seven, were sitting in the row behind the one Yuya, Sakuya, Kyoshiro, Akira, Tokito and Mahiro had taken over. In the one in front of Yuya's, Tora and Yukimura were laughing to themselves and waving at girls further down the room. Behind the Kaijiya's, the Oda children, Mekira, Santera, and Kotaru, were all sitting near the Senshi brothers, Shinrei, who once again looked thoroughly put out that he had anything to do with those people, but also knew that he would never be able to get away from them, and Hotaru, who looked like he really did not have a clue as to what was going on around him, and the final pair of twins in the group was on the other side of the Odas. The only two who were not grouped around Yuya was Kyo himself and the girl clinging to him, the older sister of the twins sitting near the Odas.

Looking down at her, Kyo felt a brief flash of irritation at the fact that he was now stuck with her for the rest of the announcement. Growling to himself, he shifted slightly in his seat to ease a little away from her, but she merely moved closer, cuddling up against his side.

That was something else he could never understand. Why did women always want to cuddle and cling to him? Sakuya had always wanted him to hold her hand or have his arm around her and now this one was clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping her on the ground. "Stop it, Okuni," he muttered when her lips started nibbling on his neck.

"But, Kyo-san, I-"

"No," he said sharply.

She pouted a little bit before shaking out her long black hair and settling back against his side.

Kyo could feel her breasts pressing against his arm and he bit down on a growl as he realised this was her way of getting back at him for snapping at her. Ignoring the tingling feeling that was spreading due to the contact, all of his attention was caught by the man walking towards the podium. "About time," he muttered.

"Quiet, please," the man said into the microphone, the sound blaring through the speakers at an unnaturally loud pitch and causing feedback to ricochet all over the auditorium.

Several students started laughing even as they covered their ears, watching the principal cover the microphone with one hand and make wild gestures at someone standing off stage with the other.

Kyo smirked to himself at the antics of the man, but he himself was not fooled by the seemingly idiotic display. He knew that even though the man looked like he was a bumbling fool, with those stupid glasses and the tendency to talk to inanimate objects, the principal of Mumyujinpu High was not a man to be trifled with. The students mockingly referred to him as the Crimson King because he had both red hair and eyes and he had laughed at the name, actually allowing the students to call him that. It had only been a short time before the entire school began referring to him as such and not one of the students could remember his true name for the life of them.

When the feedback in the speakers finally dissipated to a smattering of joyous applause, the Crimson King cleared his throat and gave the students a slightly sheepish smile. "Well, they were a lot easier to use when I was younger," he said in apology. "I guess I just can't get a good grasp on today's technology."

A few students snickered, but for the most part they remained silent as they waited for the reason they had all been dragged down there.

"Now, to get down to business, I'm sure all of you have heard about the fair that's going to be held in two months time. While I don't know how many of you were planning on attending, some of you should have known that the school was going to participate in helping run some parts of it. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the business designing the largest section of the fair has had to withdraw their participation in this event. City council decided that since the students were going to help out with the event anyways, that the new area should be given to one of the schools in the area and proposed this idea to the business since they were still willing to fund whoever took on the now free spot. After this had all been sorted out and agreed upon, a small lottery was conducted to see what school would be in charge of the spot and Mumyujinpu High is now responsible for designing the events that will be taking place at that part of the fair."

The room exploded in excited babble which was sharply brought back to order by the Crimson King tapping the microphone.

"Yes, I realise that this is highly irregular, but it is also an opportune moment to show what this school can offer imagination wise." An amused smirk crossed his lips as he dryly said, "And I know there's no lack of imagination here because there's always been a new slogan or drawing, for lack of better word, painted on the side of the school every time I come here."

Laughter bounced around the room.

"Now, to figure out what we are going to do with this new space, all I want is for groups of you to come up with ideas and present them to me, in a professional manner of course. If you do decide to put something together, I want you to remember that the rest of the city will be attending the fair so it must be tasteful. I am open to all reasonable ideas and I hope to see many of you participating in this event." Dipping his head slightly, the Crimson King paused for a moment before continuing. "I also want to add that the faculty has decided that we will divide the space in half and have two groups design each area. In addition to that, the two groups that are chosen will be competing against each other because the business that pulled out laid down a stipulation when they agreed to letting a school run the site. The two areas will be judged by both the faculty and the top business partners and each person in the winning group will be receiving a scholarship from said business."

The room grew deadly silent at this, each student wanting to know how much the scholarship would be for.

Smiling to himself, the Crimson King dropped an elbow on the podium, plopped his chin in his hand and said, "For each person it will be a full scholarship to finish whatever program they choose at their post secondary institute of choice." A grin spread across his face as the room exploded once again and his smile became indulgent as he let the kids talk amongst themselves.

Kyo blinked slightly at this announcement. His family was not in dire need of money to help their three kids with any sort of post secondary schooling they wanted so he brushed aside the idea of helping out. He did notice that Okuni was now fidgeting beside him, a bored look on her face. He smirked as he realised that he was not the only one who was bored with this topic and his eyes lifted to scan the school to see if anyone else was as disinterested as they were by this news. His gaze immediately fell on the Deeper Drove and he felt a sharp jolt of shock rip through him as he saw that all four rows of them were all talking adamantly amongst themselves, nodding and already making plans.

His eyes narrowed as he also realised that whatever they had planned he was most likely going to get dragged into it because when the Deeper Drove did something, they were all involved in it.

"Ahem."

The small stage cough brought silence to the auditorium as the student body all turned their attention back to the still smiling Crimson King.

"I realise that this is big news, but I want you all to understand that I do not want this interfering with your normal classes. Anyone caught planning during regular periods will be banned from the contest and their idea will not even be considered. If you want to participate in this event, you will plan it on your own time and then, after you have figured out what you are doing, make an appointment with Mrs. Saikyo to see me about it. When you are presenting your idea to me, I only want two or three people there and it will be conducted as if this was a real business with all of you trying to sell me on your ideas. You are also expected to prepare a portfolio containing the ideas and costs of your idea, as well as the full names and contact numbers of all those in your group, that you will leave with me.

"From all the participants, ten entries will be chosen by the faculty and I will present these ideas to the business because they will have the final decision as to what will be going in their space. The people who are chosen will be notified and then taken to the site to start work. Whoever is chosen is also excused from their normal classes and extra help will be available for those who are chosen. Other than that, I wish all of you luck and please don't disappoint me. Our school is going to be represented in front of the entire city and I do not want to go into what the consequences will be if you break any of the rules, but since all of you know my rules and punishments, I'm sure this won't be an issue."

The school watched the Crimson King leave the stage before they jumped collectively as the bell for first break rang through the dead silent room.

Pushing Okuni away from him and feeling a brief flash of disappointment when she did not take the hint to leave him alone after he stood up, Kyo began to make his way towards the exit, smirking to himself as the crowd parted to let him through. When he had made it into the hallway, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants and began to walk towards the doors outside, ignoring the female voice calling his name from behind him. Absently pulling the wrinkled pack of smokes out of the pocket of his shirt as he neared the doors, he frowned when he heard the voice again and realised that it was not Okuni. Turning slightly, he bit down on a groan as he saw Yuya running towards him. "This had better be good, dog face," he growled when she skidded to a stop beside him. "I have better things to do than talk to underdeveloped kids like you."

"I am not an underdeveloped kid!" she snapped immediately, rising to the bait.

He tipped his head to the side, his crimson eyes slowly raking along her form and he smirked slightly when she crossed her arms over her chest, huffing in annoyance. "Says who? That idiot Tora?"

Yuya growled softly and snapped, "Don't call him an idiot!"

"Ah, did he finally get you to go out with him?"

"No!"

"Then who says that you're not underdeveloped?"

"Like I'd take the word of a pervert like you!" she cried.

"Ah, ah," he said with a slow shake of his head. "You've got the wrong twin there. If you want the pervert, you've got to go talk to the bastard."

"At least he doesn't walk in front of windows naked!"

Kyo's brows snapped up at that comment and he watched as Yuya's face immediately reddened even more. "Well, well," he said with a smirk, thoroughly enjoying this turn of events. "It would appear that the idiot isn't the only peeping tom in the neighbourhood, although I guess it would have to be a peeping ugly for you."

"Like I'd peep at you!" she snarled.

"But you would peep," Kyo said smugly, watching as her face somehow got even redder.

"Ugh! You are the most…gah! Forget it! I'm not asking for your help no matter what they say!" she grumbled, turning away from him.

Knowing what she was talking about, Kyo tipped his head to the side as he considered her. When she started to actually walk away, he said, "Why don't you just ask the question so you can give them a definite answer, dog face? I don't know if I'd want you coming near me again, what with you spying on me in the mornings."

She muttered something under her breath and it was low enough that he actually missed it.

"I'm sorry, ugly, you're going to have to speak louder. I can't hear you when you talk into that measly chest of yours."

She bristled at his comment and spat over her shoulder, "We were just wondering if you wanted to help us with the project the Crimson King announced today."

"By 'we' I assume you mean the drove," Kyo said, his voice bored.

"Well, yeah, who else would I be talking about?"

"You've been part of the drove your entire life," Kyo said dryly, "and you still don't know that no matter what someone says they have to do whatever the collective drove wants?"

Yuya turned to face him, her eyes serious as they locked with his. "Actually, we decided that if someone didn't want to help out we weren't going to force them into it. Kyo, if you don't want to help out just say so and we won't bother you about it."

He studied her for a moment before looking out the glass windows of the doors, not letting any of his shock appear on his face. Since when did the drove ever want to not do something together?

As if she was reading his mind, Yuya murmured, "Anna brought up the point that we are getting older and once we all graduate from high school we're probably not going to see each other very much so it makes sense that if some of the drove don't want to participate we shouldn't try to force them. Plus so many of you are graduating this year, we don't really want to take away time that you're going to need to study for your tests and the like."

"But let me guess, the rest of the drove is helping anyways," Kyo asked, despite the fact that he knew that all of them would if for nothing other than the money.

"They haven't all decided yet. So are you going to help us, Kyo?"

He did not answer her. He pushed open the doors and stepped outside, pulling his lighter from his pocket as he went. Gripping a smoke between his teeth, he pulled it from the pack and lit it, letting his mind mull over what she had just told him. He heard the door open again behind him and knew that Yuya was following him again. He took a long drag on the cigarette before slowly letting the smoke slip past his lips.

"Kyo?" Yuya asked quietly. "You never wanted to help us before because we always made you, but we'll all understand if you don't want to."

He grunted softly, but still did not answer her.

Yuya waited for a few minutes, but as soon as the senior took out a second cigarette, she sighed and turned back to the school.

"I'll help you, ugly," Kyo called, not even realising what he was doing as he said it.

Yuya whipped around to stare at him in shock. "What?" she whispered.

His mind screamed at him to change his answer. He was going to have to work with both Kyoshiro and Sakuya if he agreed. He was going to have to deal with the Deeper Drove for a solid two months when he could barely handle them for more than two minutes. He was going to have to be creative yet tasteful at the same time. He was going to be committing himself to an institution that he really did not want to be a part of. He was going to have to deal with every idiotic thing that the drove could come up with and he knew that they were going to push their luck with this one. "I'm going to help you," he repeated.

Yuya's smile was immediate. "Thanks, Kyo. Meet us at lunch to talk about things?"

He nodded slightly and turned back to his cigarette, silently contemplating his suddenly abnormal behaviour. Surprise over whelmed him when a pair of arms suddenly hugged him from behind, squeezing him as tightly as they could before he was released just as suddenly. Whipping around to see what had just happened, he watched as Yuya bolted for the doors of the school, her pleated skirt whipping around her thighs from her actions. His shock disappeared as he saw the door being jerked open suddenly before Yuya got there and Okuni standing in the doorway, blocking the other girl from getting back inside the school.

Turning back to stare out at the grounds of the school, he pushed the girls to the back of his mind and mulled over what was going to happen in the next two months.

"Kyo-san! That little girl said that you're helping her with that ridiculous idea the Crimson King was talking about!"

"I am," he said shortly, tossing his cigarette at his feet.

"Why?" Okuni breathed.

Kyo did not answer her, turning to go back into the school.

Okuni stared at him for a moment before crossing her arms with a huff. "Well, I'm not going to help them. It's bad enough that we have to live on the same street as them, but spending two months with them non-stop? I think not!"

Kyo looked over his shoulder at her. "Well, we're not asking you to help so what does it matter?" he said softly.

Ignoring the shocked look on her face, Kyo slowly made his way back to the school. His mind was no longer focused on ideas for some stupid fair. Now it had shifted to once again consider the girls around him. Pausing when he reached the doors to go inside, he shook his head and turned to follow the side of the school. Class was not going to help him think and that was what he wanted to do.

Shoving his hands back into his pockets, he walked across the grounds towards the small grove of trees that marked the furthest point away from the school. When he had reached the miniature forest, he found a suitable tree and sunk down beside it. Leaning back against it, he stretched his legs out in front of him and reached his arms behind his head, sliding his hands to cradle his head against the bark.

Staring up at the leaves above him, he silently wondered at what had happened to him. He had always been the outsider in the Deeper Drove, he still was, but Sakuya had been the first girl that was not related to him who had shown even the remotest bit of interest in him, for his whole person and not just his face. He had never let it show, but he had felt a small thrill every time she agreed to go out with him. All those little thrills had quickly turned bitter when he found out that she was still seeing Kyoshiro and once again it became a contest between the two of them, a contest to see who was better for her. Kyoshiro had won, just like always.

It always left a foul taste in his mouth when his idiotic brother came out on top. Kyo could not understand it at all. To the outside world, Kyoshiro was clumsy, horrible at almost everything he did, broke almost everything he touched and was a pervert who enjoyed spying on girls getting out of the showers. What that stupid shell was hiding was a kind person who always tried his best to keep those around him happy, no matter how much of an idiot he made of himself, who gave serious thought to how his actions would not only affect him, but also those around him. However, that kind person also had a violent streak in it as well. The petty squabbles between the twins could quickly escalate from being over who got the last pancake at breakfast to a fight to the death at the drop of a hat. The only thing that had stopped them from tearing each other to pieces had been their father who, while enrolling both of them and their younger brother Akira when he was old enough in several different styles of martial arts, strongly disapproved of fighting amongst siblings.

A small smile twitched at Kyo's lips as he thought of how his father hated violence, but was not shy to dish out his own to make his sons understand that he would not tolerate their fights.

Thinking of how their fights had usually been stopped by their father, Kyo's smile disappeared as he realised that he was not the only one who had been able to stop them. Sakuya could do it with nothing more than a pained look at the two of them. Despite their differences, both twins did not like her looking upset so whatever made her sad must be put away or stopped.

Growling under his breath as his thoughts were interrupted by the bell ringing to signal the start of second block, Kyo shook it off and looked back at his thoughts. Remembering the feel of Okuni in his arms did not make him happy, instead bringing up the sharp reminder that he had never really held Sakuya and now he would never get the chance to. He briefly wondered if his little antic with the fox-bitch would have a negative effect on his school life, but brushed it aside after a moment, not truly caring. Okuni was just another one of those clingers who wanted him just because of his face and body.

When it came right down to it that was why he had liked going out on the random dates with Sakuya. She saw him as a person and was alright with the person that she saw.

_Apparently not enough though since she's with that bastard of a traitor,_ a little voice in his mind whispered.

Shaking the voice off as well, his train of thought turned to the women in his life without it meaning to. First and foremost in his heart, though he never admitted these kind of things and she understood that, was his mother, Mayumi. While his father doted on all three of his sons, everyone else had always been so thrilled with Kyoshiro because he was so willing to please those around him, while Kyo could not have cared less what other people thought. Not Mayumi though. She loved her irritable eldest son without restriction, spoiling him rotten when no one was looking and always making sure that he was happy no matter what was going on. He had never been one for the attention, but it always made him happy when his mother would just drop whatever she was doing when he went to talk to her, which had become a rarer event as he had grown older.

Next was his aunt Hikito and her daughters, Mahiro and Tokito. Hikito was alright, always had a kind word for Kyo and always listening when he told her about whatever childhood adventure he had been on. Her daughters, however, were a different case. Both of them had issues and Kyo had never liked dealing with issues. Mahiro was into the rebelling against her parents, hence the dyed black hair and the provocative clothing that she wore, not to mention the tattoo she had gotten without permission. Tokito was a different story all together. The girl was strange to a fault, always wanting to please her parents, but at the same time always wanting to play with the tarot cards she had found in the attic and had never let anyone take away from her. The two girls were always at each other, fighting over petty things so they were similar to their elder male cousins in that way, but they had never actually gotten into more than just a verbal fight. Despite the fact that they were both more annoying than any one person had a right to be, Kyo had always looked out for them from the sidelines. Since they did not have a brother of their own, he had taken on the role after deciding that his idiot of a twin was not fit for the job, but once again he had never told them that he watched out for them. He also had not seen fit to mention that the reason it was so hard for them to find dates was because most of the guys in the school had gotten the talk with their big cousin, which had basically involved one sentence, "Hurt them and I'll hurt you," and all the threatening nature that Kyo could conjure in an instant.

After them, there were only really two others, Shiina Sakuya and her younger sister Yuya. The two girls were as different as night and day in colouring, but there were so many similarities between them that it was impossible not to know that they were related. Sakuya had always been the quiet one on the side lines of all the games, her own clumsiness rivalling Kyoshiro's so much so that they other children of the drove were afraid to play with her because she might get hurt. She was delicate, something that needed protecting, something that you could protect and know that what you were doing was appreciated. Then there was Yuya. Annoying, loud, obnoxious, over bearing, underdeveloped, argumentative, bossy, temper mental Yuya. He called her dog face and ugly to get a rise out of her because of all the Deeper Drove she was the most fun to fight with because she never held anything back. She never attacked him physically, she considered herself too much of a lady to do something lowly like that, but verbal abuse was another matter. There had been a few occurrences where she had thrown things at his head, only to miss as he neatly sidestepped the blow and criticized her aim. Yuya did not want to be protected. Her brother over protected her and that was enough. She had always been out to show the boys of the drove that she was as tough as they were and nothing they could do would change that.

Closing his eyes on a sigh as he felt a headache begin to form behind his crimson orbs, he let his body relax fully against the tree. All this thinking was making him sleepy and it was only second block which was nothing important so he could catch a quick nap before going and stealing lunch from that idiot traitor. Smiling to himself at the sheer brilliance of his plan, Kyo drifted off to what he thought was a well deserved nap, his last thought that if nothing else this supposed group project would give him a prime opportunity to get back at the traitor.

**A/N**: Well, there be the second chapter…and yes, I realise that the families are all screwy, but that's the way I wanted them to be. Besides, it's AU and a fanfic so anything really goes! That said, hope you liked and please review!


	3. Of Brothers

**A/N:** Whoo! Well, I never actually expected people to read this, but…whoo! (cough) Alrighty, I'll just shush after saying a quick thank you to all of you who took the time to review! SHMANK YOU SO MUCH! Alright! On with the story!

**Disclaimer:**…Tal has run out of witty things to put here, so while she would thoroughly enjoy owning SDK (especially Hotaru) she sadly does not.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&

Growling under his breath as he prowled the halls, Shinrei could not help the glare that settled on his face as he searched for his brother. They had both been called to the office, but only Shinrei had shown up to receive the message from their father and, while it was not really important, it had irritated him that his brother had not shown up at all. Now he had spent most of his lunch break searching for the moron he called his younger sibling.

Pausing slightly as he passed a window that looked out on the sunny day, the pale haired teenager swore softly as he realised that he had just wasted the past twenty minutes looking inside the school when he should have known that his brother was outside.

Heading for the nearest exit, Shinrei pushed it open and lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sun's glare. His eyes skipped over the students having lunch on the grass around the school, searching for the blond head of his younger brother. A small smile of triumph flashed across his face as he finally located him, but it was quickly lost as his anger returned.

Quickly crossing the grounds to the picnic table his brother was stretched out on, Shinrei balled his fist and, after considering driving it into the side of his brother's head, punched his side. He felt a small flare of victory when the other grunted, but it was lost as confused eyes turned to look at him.

"What was that for?" Keikoku demanded, rubbing his assaulted side.

"Why didn't you go to the office?"

Keikoku's shoulders lifted in a shrug as his eyes lifted to the clouds circling over head. "It's a nice day out so I didn't want to."

Shinrei felt his body tense as he got ready to yell at him, but Keikoku continued before he could say anything.

"Besides, I knew you'd go and that you'd find me if I didn't."

The angry tirade Shinrei had planned left him in a small angry huff. "You still should have gone, Keikoku."

"Don't call me that and why? Whenever they call us both it's usually just dad saying that he won't be home for dinner or something like that."

"It's your name and I'm going to call you by it if I want to. You're right though," he added as an after thought.

"I am?"

"About them calling us both to the office," Shinrei explained, feeling his irritation rise again at his brother's dense nature.

"Oh. So dad's not going to be there for dinner?"

Shinrei shook his head as he leaned back against the table, his own eyes looking up at the sky above. "Mmm, he said that he's probably not going to be home until like midnight."

"…Nothing new," Keikoku said dismissively.

Shinrei did not answer as he watched the clouds that had caught his brother's attention, attempting to find what the other found so interesting up there.

"Do you think I could get a cat?"

Blinking at the sudden and random question, Shinrei looked down at Keikoku. "Where did that come from?"

Keikoku shrugged again. "I don't know. I want a cat."

"Why do you want a cat?"

"Because I do."

"That's not a reason, Keikoku!"

"You got a dog when you wanted one just because so why can't I get a cat?"

Shinrei blinked again at the soft anger in his brother's voice and he tried to remember the event Keikoku was talking about. "Keikoku," he finally said with a groan, "that was ten years ago!"

"So? You still got what you wanted just because so why can't I?" Hotaru persisted.

"Did you ask Father?"

Keikoku made an irritated sound and rolled off the table. "Like he'd listen to anything I said," he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.

"Maybe if you listened to what he said he'd listen to you."

Golden eyes were snapping with fire as they glared at Shinrei over his shoulder. "Why would I listen to someone who hates me?" he growled before turning away.

Shinrei watched Keikoku leave, his anger at the other returning before it was lost on an irritated sigh. Lifting his hands to rub at his temples, he tried to stop the headache that always came after talking to Keikoku. _How did he remember something that happened ten years ago and then forget something like turning off the stove after he's done with it? Gah! I don't understand him at all!_

Shaking his head, Shinrei pushed himself away from the table, brushing off his pants as he did so. He glanced over all the students outside again, feeling the small muscle above his left eye twitch in irritation as several girls smiled and waved at him. Not wanting to, but doing it anyways, he glanced in the direction Keikoku had gone and felt his shoulders sag as he saw that his brother had joined up with most of the Deeper Drove. His mind wondered, as it had every time this had happened, if his younger brother somehow had the ability to predict what Shinrei wanted to do before he himself even knew as he started walking towards the group.

When he had gotten within earshot of the group, he seriously considered turning around as he listened to all the ridiculous ideas the Kajiya kids were throwing at Yuya, who held a pen and notebook in her hands. His actions were cut short when her eyes landed on him and lit up. Biting down on the groan that rose in his throat, he watched her bounce up from her seat and rush over to him.

"God, I'm so glad you're here!" she whispered, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the rest of the group. "I love them to death, but they've had too much sugar or something," she said, jerking her head at the laughing Kajiya clan.

"When do they not?" Shinrei asked dryly, tugging his arm away from Yuya, not wanting anyone to think that he actually enjoyed being around these people.

She smiled at him and went back to her seat. "Well," she said slowly, looking at the group around her, "it looks like almost everyone's here, except Kyo and Yukimura, but that's to be expected."

"Wait," Mahiro cut in, her face shocked. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to force anyone into this?"

"We did and I didn't. He agreed on his own."

The entire group stared at her in collective shock before starting to look around for their elusive member.

"He wasn't in second block," Shinrei muttered, his eyes focusing on Yuya as she frowned down at her book.

"So no one's seen him since first break?" Yuya said, her frown deepening.

"Well, we saw him briefly," Kyoshiro said slowly, glancing at Sakuya who nodded, "but all he did was steal my money and then disappear again."

"We can go look for him!" one of the female Kajiya twins said with a grin.

Shinrei bit down on another groan as the entire clan seemed to agree with the idea except for the eldest two, who were giving the younger ones funny looks.

"Yeah, like Kyo really wants the entire drove searching the school for him, Lilian," Anthony said dryly.

"But we need to have his input too!" the other twin cried.

"Kyo's input would consist of only putting down every idea we came up with," Shinrei pointed out, not at all liking the idea of searching the school for someone he did not want to really find.

"You don't have to look for him," Akira said quietly, his soft voice cutting through the babble going on around him.

"And why is that?"

Pointing across the group, he said without looking, "He's coming."

Every pair of eyes snapped onto the elusive member of the drove, causing him to frown slightly. "What?" he growled when he reached them.

"Nothing!" Yuya said quickly, a smile on her face. "So now that we're all here-"

"There's only ten minutes left of lunch, Yuya," Saishi pointed out.

"-I just wanted us to figure out where we should meet after school since we don't have enough time to discuss anything right now," she finished with a small look at Saishi.

Several of the older students stared at her in shock while the younger ones began to avidly discuss the topic.

"You wanted us all here just for that!" Kyo demanded, his irritation evident in his voice as it rose above the excited babble of the Kajiya kids.

"As much as I hate to do this," Shinrei said with a glare at Kyo, "I have to agree with Kyo."

"And why would you hate to agree with me when I'm always right?" Kyo asked, his crimson eyes locking with amber. "Like being wrong all the time, water lily?"

Shinrei's teeth clenched at the nickname and he hissed, "Don't call me that!

"Aw, but you are," Kyo continued. "Such a fragile little water flower!"

The two seniors glared at each other, both of their fists clenched in preparation for the fight that was imminent.

"Stop it, you two!" Yuya cried, getting to her feet to rush over to them. "We don't need you two fighting!"

"Back off, ugly," Kyo growled, shoving away her hands as she tried to pull them away from each other.

"Let go, Yuya," Shinrei snapped, shaking off her hands.

"Don't snap at Yuya!" Tora cried, getting to his feet and pulling Shinrei around to glare at him.

"Back off, kitty," the pale haired teen snarled. "I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Don't call me kitty!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Shinrei sneered.

"I'll show you!" Tora snapped, taking a swing at the other.

Shinrei dodged the blow and so did Kyo as Tora continued through with it, knocking Yuya to the ground as he pushed her out of the way. As soon as the young blond hit the dirt, most of the drove exploded into the fight as well, wanting to both get Yuya out of the way of the older boys' fight and to see if they could actually get a blow in on one of the guys.

Shinrei fought down a laugh when he saw Kyo back hand Tora for trying to hit him, but it was cut off as a fist connected with his stomach. His eyes moved over to find his brother's face near his and Keikoku's fist in his gut.

"Stop it!" Yuya cried after Akira had pulled her from the fray and helped her to her feet. "You guys grow up!"

Fights between the boys of the Deeper Drove were almost always identical to the first one they had ever had. They mainly consisted of a single member being rubbed the wrong way, throwing a punch or a tackle at someone, missing, striking someone else and causing the relative intelligence of the group to dwindle to nothing as it became a brawl to see who could beat all of the others into submission. The other key component of these fights was that no amount of yelling from the girls ever got them to stop. This fight was no different from all the others.

The males of the Deeper Drove ignored Yuya's cries and continued to fight amongst themselves. Shinrei recovered enough of his breath to pull back and smoke Keikoku in the cheek. The elder brother watched as the younger stumbled back slightly before a new threat came at the pale haired youth in the form of a red eyed demon. Ducking the punch Kyo threw at his own head, Shinrei was just about to strike out at the other's unblocked midsection when a sudden burst of water fell over all of them.

"What the…Yukimura!" Kyo growled as his eyes swung to the grinning senior who was holding a rather large and rather empty bottle.

"Now, now, boys!" Yukimura said in a cheery voice that belied him sadly shaking his head. "That's not any way to behave!"

A low growl came from behind Shinrei and he glanced over his shoulder to see Keikoku shaking out his wet hair, a murderous look in his eyes. Without thinking about it, Shinrei grabbed his brother's arm, preventing him from trying to strike Yukimura. When gold eyes swung to lock with his, he faced the other's anger straight on and shook his head. "He isn't worth it, Keikoku," he muttered, shaking the arm he held.

"You'd fight him," Keikoku accused under his breath.

"Since when have you ever wanted to do something that I did?"

Keikoku jerked violently at that and Shinrei released him in surprise, shock rushing through him at the flash of emotion he had just seen in the other's eyes. Shaking his head as Keikoku moved away, Shinrei just accounted the emotion to be a trick his own eyes played on him, them being watery from the unexpected attack from his brother.

"Are you alright, Shinrei?"

Looking down at the soft voice, Shinrei brushed aside Saisei's concern with a soft grunt and moved to lean back against a tree. He watched as the drove found their seats again, some of them grumbling about the water and ringing it out of their hair. His brows drew together slightly when he heard Kyo suddenly chuckle and the sharp smack of a hand connecting with skin had the entire drove looking around for the next fight.

"Tora, you pervert!"

"I'm not the one who tossed the water, Yuya!" Tora protested, cradling the cheek that had just received an intimate introduction to Yuya's palm and trying to keep his eyes off of her.

"You're the one who's looking!"

"It's not the idiot's fault that you forgot to put on a bra this morning, ugly, although you probably wouldn't need it."

Yuya's cheeks flared and she rounded on Kyo with her arms crossed over the front of her soaked shirt. "Who asked for your opinion!"

"Ah, ah, Yuya," Yukimura interrupted. "You called us all together to discuss when we should get together to talk about the project yes?"

Flipping the wet end of her hair over her shoulder with a toss of her head, Yuya jerked her head in an irritated nod. "Yes. Thank you, Akira," she said with a smile as the boy held out his jacket to her.

"Do not mention it, Yuya. It's the least any respectable person would do."

"What's that supposed to mean, brat!" Tora cried.

Lifting curled fingers up to his chin, Akira glanced in Tora's direction and smirked. "Am I to assume that you can't even understand a simple statement?"

"Can we get this over with?" Shinrei demanded, his irritation rising at the idiotic fighting that was making him spend more time in the presence of these people than he really wanted to.

"Fine," Yuya said, giving her wet notebook a shake before shaking her head. "Where are we going to meet?"

Silence fell over the group as they each considered which one of their parents would be best suited to handle all of them.

"What about the park?" Mahiro said suddenly. "It's big enough for all of us to have our own space and then we don't have to bug our families."

"Any objections?" Yuya asked, looking around the drove.

Shrugs and grunts rang around the group.

Planting her hands on her hips, Yuya shook her head again. "Look," she said shortly, "we all agreed to do this of our own free will so everyone's got their own opinion in this. If you don't want to go to the park say something."

No one said anything.

"Alright, now when?"

"Seven," Sakuya said quietly. "Everyone should be done all their after school activities and had dinner."

"Any objections?"

Silence rang again.

Green eyes narrowed as Yuya looked around the group. "Are you all just agreeing with everything to get me to shut up?" she accused.

"Well, what do you know," Kyo sneered. "There is some hope of intelligence under that dog face of yours."

"Kyo, you-"

"If we're done here, I'm leaving," Shinrei said shortly before Yuya could explode on Kyo. Pushing away from his tree, he turned towards the school and left the drove behind. He could hear them arguing again, but he brushed it off. The only reason he had agreed to work with them was because of the promise of a full scholarship and he figured it would be easier for them to get closer to that goal if the whole drove went for it together instead of splitting up.

Shaking his head slightly to clear it of thoughts of the drove, he pulled open one of the doors of the school and stepped back inside the air conditioned building. Turning down one of the corridors, he frowned when he heard the door open almost as soon as it closed, but brushed it aside, figuring another student had just come in. Walking down the hallway towards his locker, he gradually became aware that someone was following him and not doing a very good job of hiding it. He did not glance over his shoulder nor speed up. He had nothing to fear from whoever it was and if it was one of the drove looking for another fight, he would be more than happy to give it to them.

When he reached his locker, he caught a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye and turned slightly to find himself face to face with his younger brother. His breath left him in an irritated huff and he turned back to his locker, he was not going to prompt Keikoku to talk when he did not want to speak to the other in the first place. As he searched through his locker for his books for his next class, he was completely aware of the gold eyes that watched him avidly, as if waiting for some sort of sign that it was okay to start talking.

After pulling out his books, Shinrei swallowed a growl of annoyance and looked at Keikoku. "What?" he demanded.

"You never really answered my question."

White brows drew together as he tried to remember what the other was talking about. He felt a brief flash of panic at the thought that he might be becoming as slow as his brother, but he brushed it aside and merely attributed his not understanding to the fact that no one could understand Keikoku. "What question was that?" he finally said, closing his locker with a small slam.

"About the cat."

Shinrei felt his face going slack in shock and quickly pulled his composure together before Keikoku saw it. "How should I know? I'm not in charge of the house."

"Dad's never there so even if he didn't want me to have one I should be able to keep it from him."

"How are you going to manage that? Forget that, how are you going to take care of a cat when you can barely take care of yourself?" Shinrei asked, glaring slightly at his brother. "How do I know you're not going to just light it on fire or something?"

Shinrei rocked back on his heels as Keikoku gave him a look that clearly stated who the blond thought was the idiot of the two of them. "You don't set cats on fire," he snapped. "You light hair on fire and you missed a spot," he added before walking away.

A hand immediately went to his hair to see if Keikoku was right and that he had actually missed getting rid of some of the singed hair before he froze as realization washed over him. Keikoku had not actually managed to light his hair on fire this morning. He had just played him.

Despite the fact that he had just been played a fool by his younger, idiotic brother, Shinrei could not help the small smile that crossed his lips as his hand dropped back to his side. _Score one for Keikoku, I guess,_ he thought as the bell echoed through the school. _Not that I'll ever tell him I'm keeping score…He probably wouldn't understand anyways. Stupid idiot._

The smile was still on his lips as he headed for his class.

&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&$&

**A/N:** …Okay, I know I suck at insults. The whole 'water lily' and 'kitty' thing? That's sad and I wish I could think of something better to put in there, but my mind's just too nice to come up with anything good. Stop laughing, Kag! Mmm, sorry if the chapters don't seem to be going anywhere yet, don't worry! These are more to just get you familiar with the families and for those of you that know Yuan's family…yes, I've completely screwed it over but it's such a large family and I had such a hard time finding all the stuff about them before I started writing this so it's kind of willy nilly. But besides that, I hope you liked and please review!


	4. Detentions

**A/N: **Well, here's the next instalment of the story. Not much to say about it except I had fun writing it and I'm sorry if Akira seems a little off in some parts. Oh, I do have to give some credit for help with the story.

First off to the lovely people at the **LJ community love deeper** for putting together that oh so wonderful character map that is like a god send for any fan of SDK! Thank you so much! Without that I would have been so lost on Yuan's family!

Next would have to be **sylvacoer/ The Narrator**. I kind of stole an idea from the picture that you drew for the minitokyo sdk group because I had no idea how Akira was going to really be able to do some things in the classroom. So kudos to you for the whole computer thing! …Oh and he is blind in this story, it's just in the last chapter I hadn't really decided if I was going to do that to the poor boy so I was kind of vague about it. (rubs hands together) Akira/Yuya fluff eh? I was thinking about it, but we'll just have to see where the story takes us! And yes…boys are stupid aren't they?

And to all the reviewers, wow, I can't believe you're actually reading this and liking it. (scratches head) Oh well, thank you anyways! It's always nice to know what people think of this and I do like the input! I am also open to suggestions, but just keep in mind that I may not actually use it. So yeah, other than that, I don't think there really is anything. On with the story!

**Disclaimer:** Would really, really, REALLY like to own it, but she doesn't…which is probably a good thing since she can't draw worth a damn.

* * *

To anyone who looked inside the classroom, it would look like only silence rang through the room. Almost all of the students were bent over the papers in front of them, diligently working to finish their test before the bell rang. Any person who thought this would be wrong though.

The soft sound of pens moving over paper filled what looked like a silent room. Occasionally, the harsh scraping of a shoe against the tiled floor or the gentle whisper of hair shifting across someone's forehead would penetrate the haze of pen scratching. A new sound over took the other as the short raps of the teacher's ridiculously healed shoe tapped against the side of her desk, signalling that her students were not the only ones who wished the day to be over with.

Leaning back in his chair, a small smirk crossed the face of the only student in the room who was no longer working on or mutilating the test in front of him. He found it amusing that for every test that they wrote each person in the class behaved in the exact same way, no matter which class they were in nor what it was on.

Near the front of the classroom, Yuya was staring down at her test paper, tapping her pen against her lips as she tried to figure out what the next answer was. Two rows behind her, his cousin Tokito was drawing abstract beside each of the numbers, most likely the symbols off of her beloved tarot cards. The twins, Saisei and Saishi, were sitting beside each other in the row behind Tokito, both of them still bent over their papers, but Saisei was going over her answers, while Saishi was still working on the final questions. In the same row, but on the other side of the classroom, Kotaru sat poking holes in the edges of his paper with the tip of his pen. In the back row, the final two members of the Deeper Drove in this class were sitting, Akira listening to all that was going on in the supposedly silent classroom and Hotaru drawing little stick figures on the back of his test paper.

Tipping his head to the side slightly, Akira tried to focus on the soft scratching of Hotaru's pen to figure out what exactly his absent minded friend was drawing. His brows drew together in frustration as he could not find any sort of coherence to what the other was doing, but he shook it off. Hotaru rarely did things that made sense to anyone.

Akira heard the weight shift on the chair next to him and knew that Hotaru was now looking at him.

"Why are you listening to me?" the blonde boy muttered softly under his breath.

A brow lifted at that and Akira murmured back, "What makes you think that I was listening to you in particular?"

"I could feel it."

Akira tried not to laugh at that. "Feel it? How did you accomplish that?"

"Just because you don't watch with your eyes, Akira, doesn't mean that other people can't feel it when you're watching them."

Silently stunned at the comment from his normally dense friend, Akira was about to comment on it when he heard the teacher's attention shift from whatever she had been focused on to them. Both Hotaru and he immediately fell silent as her eyes narrowed on them.

"Damn," Akira muttered as he heard the wheels on the teacher's chair slide against the floor as she pushed away from her desk.

"Just shut up," Hotaru mumbled, turning back to his drawings.

Akira mentally rolled his eyes, wanting to tell his friend to heed his own advice, and kept his focus on the teacher as she approached the back of the classroom. He silently sent a prayer upwards to whoever was listening asking them to keep Hotaru from saying something that was going to land the both of them in another detention.

"Is there some reason the two of you were ignoring the rules for test periods?" the woman asked softly as she reached the row they were sitting in.

Both Akira and Hotaru looked up at her, but remained silent.

Akira heard the muscles in her face shift as she lifted a brow at them. "Well? I would like an answer."

The blind young man heard as the class seemed to shift as one to stare at the scene going on at the back of the class and he bit down on an irritated sigh as he was once again reminded of the fact that no one seemed to be able to mind their own business in this school. He could feel the amusement of some people as they settled in to watch Hotaru and himself get in trouble, but he just let it roll off of him as his focus moved to completely fall on his supposed partner in crime. He wanted to know the exact moment when the blonde decided that it was time for him to actually say something so he, Akira, could cut him off to keep them from getting in more trouble.

"Talking in class is not acceptable," the teacher said sharply when neither of them responded to her, "especially when a test is taking place."

A small snicker from somewhere in the room, most likely his cousin Tokito, distracted Akira for the mere millisecond that it took for Hotaru to respond.

"Then why are you talking?"

The question was so simple and so typical of Hotaru and since it was a typical statement for him it got the expected response from the teacher.

"Don't get smart with me, Saikyo," the teacher snapped.

"I was just asking a question."

"Speaking of questions, you still haven't answered mine! Why were you two talking during the test? Were you sharing answers?"

"We were not," Akira said firmly, annoyed with the idea that the teacher thought that he would cheat. "I merely wanted to know what Hotaru was drawing."

"I'm sure," she sneered. "Both of you are going to have detention after school. Now give me your tests. If I find that your answers are worded the same or are remotely similar, both of you will receive no marks for this exam."

Akira's hands clenched and he heard Hotaru bristle beside him as his paper was snatched away from him. Slowly forcing his hands to uncurl, the blind young man pulled the small memory stick from his laptop that he had saved his test on and held it out to the teacher. His ire rose as she snatched that away as well, but his face betrayed nothing as he waited for her to get away from him.

"That wasn't fair," Hotaru growled under his breath. "I wasn't done drawing yet."

A small huff of laughter left Akira at his friend's misplaced anger, but he did not comment on it. Leaning back in his chair again, he let his focus drift away from the scratching pens and shifting feet and started concentrating on the thing that was piquing his curiousity. This project that the Crimson King had announced sounded interesting, but he was more curious to see what the drove finally agreed upon or if they could even find anything that they would find satisfactory. If the drove was good for one thing, it was never agreeing on one particular thing.

His musings were cut short as the teacher's voice rang through the classroom. "Time's up! Put down your pens!"

Trying not to count all of the pens that were dropped to the desk, Akira tipped his head towards Hotaru and murmured, "How long do you think the wicked witch is going to keep us here this time?"

Hotaru's shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. "It was an hour last time."

Akira fell silent as the teacher walked past the pair of them, his muscles tensing as he felt her glare at them. The bell rang as she began walking towards the front of the classroom and the entire class save Akira and Hotaru jumped up from their seats. They stayed where they were, waiting for the teacher to tell them what menial chore they were supposed to do this time.

A small muscle above Akira's right eye began twitching in time with the irritating tapping of the teacher's fingers against the top of her desk. He could hear Hotaru shifting in his seat, both of them impatiently waiting for the teacher to finally speak.

"I think," she said slowly, "that you two should clean the classroom thoroughly today. I want every board washed, the floors scrubbed, desks realigned, books returned to where they should be and new supplies where they are needed."

Akira's foot connected with Hotaru's shin when he heard the blond inhale to make a comment on it and a small smirk crossed Akira's face as the other's breath left him in a hiss.

"I'll go find a janitor to get you the stuff. You two stay here and wait for me to come back."

The two boys still did not make a sound as the teacher left the room. Akira could feel Hotaru's eyes on him as he listened to the clacks from the heels fade down the hallway and he nodded slightly when the teacher rounded a corner in the hall.

"Well this is nice," Akira said sarcastically.

"Did you have to be somewhere else?"

"I'd rather be anywhere else besides this class. That witch is probably going to watch us work again."

"…So you noticed that she did that, too?" Hotaru said softly.

"How could I not?" Akira growled. "It's not like she actually tries to hide it."

"Does it creep you out as much as it does me?"

"Does she make your skin crawl?"

"Yes."

"Does she make it feel like she's watching you for something you'd really rather not think about?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, she creeps me out as much as does you."

"Do you think we should do something about it?"

"Like what? Hotaru, as much as I hate to admit this, but she hasn't really done anything that's out of order so nothing would get done about it. Besides, we can't even say she's giving us too many detentions because every time she's got a fairly valid reason. All that they'd say is that we're imagining it."

Hotaru tipped his head to the side as he studied his friend. "Why does that sound like you've already tried?"

An angry flush covered pale cheeks. "Because I did," he muttered. "After the first three detentions with her, I went to talk to one of the councillors and they told me that I was probably just upset because I never get detentions."

"Well you don't."

"But you're feeling uncomfortable too," Akira said quietly, not even really hearing Hotaru. "Maybe they'll listen to me now."

"Uh…Akira?"

"They won't be able to deny it with Hotaru saying the same thing. They'll have to listen to us."

"Okay, you're talking to yourself."

"I mean, this sort of thing could be considered harassment! I don't care if it is hard to get people to come here to teach! This sort of thing is unacceptable!"

"…Did I ever tell you that I think you dress funny?"

"Where did they say that she came from?" Akira muttered. "Oh! Miami! I should check into it and see if there were any other complaints about her."

"You smell kind of off, too."

"If I can get enough information on her that proves my point, they won't be able to not do anything about it!"

"You're never going to finish school."

"Maybe I should just go talk to the Crimson King instead. That might be a better idea than going back to those idiotic councillors."

"You fight like a girl," Hotaru said hopefully.

"Mmm, maybe it isn't a good idea. Auntie Hikito might get involved and then they might think that I went to her to get sympathy."

"…I heard Yuya finally agreed to go out with Tora."

Akira's whole body gave a lurch as Hotaru's statement washed over him, cutting through his personal tirade. "Eh! Where did you hear that?" he demanded of the other.

"Mmm? Oh, were you finally listening to me?"

"…You were talking?"

"Mmhmm."

"…About what?"

Hotaru shrugged.

"…Were you just spitting out random things again?"

"At least I wasn't having a serious discussion with myself."

The flush returned to Akira's cheeks, but he did not get a chance to respond as the teacher once again returned to the room. The two boys fell into complete silence as she walked to her desk and sat down. A second person came into the room, carrying all of the equipment that they were going to need to clean the room.

Akira stowed his computer inside his bag and slowly got out of his seat. He stopped when he heard that Hotaru had not moved and did not seem like he planned on it. "Hotaru, get up before she gives us more to do," he said from between clenched teeth.

"I don't want to do this," the other growled. "I don't like being watched."

"Neither do I, but after we're done here we'll go talk to someone about her. Now come on."

"I thought you said you were going to check into her before you did that."

Akira jerked again. "You were actually paying attention to what I said?"

"It was kind of hard not to. You were getting kind of loud."

"Well, whatever. Get up, Hotaru. Let's get this over with as quickly as we can so we can get the hell out of here."

Hotaru grunted softly before pushing himself off of the chair. "Doesn't really matter," he said as he moved past Akira. "It's not like anyone's going to miss me at home."

"Ah, come on. You know Shinrei's going to get all pissy because he's going to have to do all of your chores again."

Akira heard Hotaru's lips twitch as he smiled slightly before his friend murmured, "I guess so."

Both of the young men felt their bodies tense as the teacher settled down in her desk to mark the tests she had just gathered in and their hopes of her going away were effectively dashed. Taking the cloth Hotaru held out to him, Akira tried not to laugh at the disgusted sound that left the other as he stared down into the bucket of soapy water.

"It's just water, Hotaru," Akira murmured, keeping his voice low so the teacher would not hear him. "It's not going to bite you."

"Says you," Hotaru growled, splashing his cloth in the water before quickly pulling his hand away from the liquid.

Akira shook his head as he dipped his own rag into the steaming water. Ringing it out carefully, he followed Hotaru to the white boards and began washing away all of the dried ink marks on the board.

"Isn't this kind of mean to you?" Hotaru asked softly at one of the times they were near each other.

"Why?"

"I know that you have a good idea of what's going on around you, but how do you know if you miss a spot?"

Akira smirked at his friend. "That's what you're for. You're supposed to tell me when I do something like that."

"I am?"

"Of course, Hotaru, I mean, I can't really see what I'm doing now can I?"

Hotaru snorted and shook his head. "That's bullshit," he muttered as he started working his way to the other side of the board.

Akira grinned to himself. While he did not like the fact that he was getting these detentions for ridiculously idiotic reasons, he did not mind the fact that Hotaru was usually there with him. While the two of them had grown up together and did seem to have personalities on opposite ends of the spectrum, they were actually fairly close.

As they were finishing with the boards, Akira heard the door open rather quickly and both boys jumped as it slammed into the wall.

"What is the meaning of this?" the teacher demanded.

"It's your car! Someone lit several of the cars in the parking lot on fire! The Crimson King told me to come get you because yours is one of the ones on fire!"

"What!"

"Quick! He wants you in the parking lot now!"

"Right! Oh, when I find out who did this!" she growled as she rushed from the room.

Akira and Hotaru looked at each other before turning to the girl who had just rushed in. "Tokito, is there really a fire?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes, Akira, there really is a fire."

Akira grunted as Hotaru pushed him back into the boards to get past to the window. "Hey, there really is a fire! There are six cars on fire!"

"Tokito," Akira said slowly, ignoring the excitement in Hotaru's voice, "did you have anything to do with the fire?"

Tokito scoffed as she moved into the classroom and sat down at the teacher's desk. "Hotaru's the pyromaniac, Akira," she said as she pulled out her tarot cards. "I didn't have anything to do with it."

"Who did it then?"

"Mmm, I'm not telling you."

"Which tells me that you did have a part in it," Akira said under his breath. Turning to Hotaru, he said, "Will you get away from there? We have to finish cleaning so we can go home!"

"But the fire…."

"Don't worry, Hotaru," Tokito said consolingly, spreading out her cards. "I'm sure there will be another one soon."

Akira wished he could hit his younger cousin without getting in trouble, but he did nothing as Hotaru left the window with a sigh.

"So what's next?" Hotaru asked as he threw his cloth in the bucket of water, causing some of it to splash onto the floor.

"…Tokito, can you-"

"I'm not doing your detention, Akira."

"I wasn't going to ask you to," he returned shortly. "I just wanted you to tell me how many books are missing from the ones on the shelf."

"Oh." There was a pause as Tokito did what he asked. "Seven on the top and four on the bottom."

"Thank you," he said, turning his focus to the room to find the books.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do?" Hotaru asked as Akira started moving through the desks, picking up the books lying on top of them.

"Look and see what supplies need to be replaced," Akira instructed as his fingers traced over the patterns on the cover of the book, identifying it as one of the ones that needed to go on the top shelf.

He heard Tokito sigh and push her chair back. "Hotaru, you're hopeless. Look the pens are over here."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"Don't you pay attention when she…Oh, never mind. I know you don't."

Akira smiled to himself and scooped up the book off the desk. He wound his way through another set of desks to the shelves and began putting the books away.

"Hotaru! That's where the blue ones go, not the red! Wait, you don't even have any blue pens!"

"I don't like blue. It reminds me of water."

"…That doesn't mean that you can ignore it! Don't put that in your pocket! Hotaru! Don't steal stuff from the witch! You already get in enough trouble as it is!"

"Hey! Give that back!"

"It's not yours!"

"So!"

Akira bit down on his lower lip as Tokito let out an aggravated snarl. "Oh, come on, Toki-chan," he called to his cousin. "Let Hotaru take the pen if he wants it."

"Don't call me Toki!"

Slipping the last book he had been carrying onto the shelf, Akira turned to face his glaring cousin. "Why, Toki-chan! That look doesn't suit you at all!"

"Akira, stop it!" Tokito growled.

"Aww, Toki-chan, you're too sensitive. Hey!" Akira cried, dodging the pen that Tokito threw at his head. "What was that for!"

"What do you think, idiot?"

"Ah, you need to loosen up, Toki-ch-Gah!" Dodging another pen, Akira shook his head. "Fine, you little wench, I'll stop for now."

"You better!"

"Did you just let her win because she tossed a couple pens at your head?" Hotaru asked incredulously.

Akira lifted his shoulders in a shrug and helplessly spread his hands. "There's not much you can really do about that, Hotaru. Toki-chan gets very irritable when she doesn't get her way so we try to keep her happy whenever we can. I think it has to do with the fact that she's the baby of the family and oh so delicate that we have to handle her with kid glo-Ha!" Akira said triumphantly as he caught the latest pen Tokito threw at him.

"Stop dodging them and let me hit you!"

"Uh, how about no?"

"Are you two done?" Hotaru asked.

"We're never…what did you do to your face!" Tokito cried. "Oh, god, Hotaru, what the hell did you do that for!"

"I like it," Hotaru said defensively.

Akira bit down on his laughter, knowing exactly what Hotaru had done to his face as he had seen it before he had lost his eyesight. "Aw, come on, Toki-chan, if Hotaru wants to draw on his face what's the big deal?"

"He's sixteen, Akira, and stop calling me that!"

"So what if he's sixteen? If he wants to draw the marks on his face, he should be allowed to draw them on his face."

"You're not helping, damn it!"

Looking straight at his cousin, Akira grinned at her and said, "I wasn't trying, my dear Toki-chan."

Tokito let out a frustrated noise and stomped back to the teacher's desk. "You two are the most annoying people in the world!" she growled as she started lying out her cards again.

"Mmm, I think Shinrei's the most annoying person in the world," Hotaru disagreed.

"Well, I'm sure he thinks the same about you, Hotaru."

Shaking his head, Akira turned to Hotaru. "Did you finish restocking the witch's stuff?"

Akira heard Hotaru's clothes shift as he shrugged. "Sure."

"So, we just need to realign all the desks and wash the floor."

"You can wash the floor," Hotaru said shortly. "I'm not touching that water again."

Sighing at the expected response from his friend, Akira moved up to the front of the classroom.

"Hey, Hotaru," Tokito said curiously as the boy began pushing the desks back to where the little marks on the floor showed where they were supposed to go. "If you don't like water, does that mean you don't have showers?"

"I shower."

"But if you hate water so much wouldn't that mean that you'd avoid it."

"I do hate water, but I hate it even more when Shinrei and him yell at me for not taking a shower so I take one."

"Him? Oh, your father, right," Tokito mumbled as she placed another card down.

Feeling his lips twitch in a smirk as he gripped the mop handle, Akira innocently remarked, "Why, Tokito, I never knew that you were so interested in Hotaru's bathing patterns."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Tokito broke it with an enraged cry.

"Akira, you ass! What the hell was that about?"

Akira tried to keep a straight face when all he wanted to do was laugh. "Come now, Tokito. You really shouldn't be asking those kinds of questions if you don't want to get those kind of remarks."

"Ugh! Are you out of your mind! I wouldn't go out with an idiot like Hotaru!"

"Now, that's just mean!" Akira continued, baiting his cousin along. "You're insulting Hotaru!"

"Eh?" the blonde said blankly, looking up from where he had been staring down at the desk he was moving.

"…Oh, that's great, Hotaru," Akira said scathingly.

"What?"

"Never mind. Just finish up so I can start mopping and we can get out of here. Hey, Tokito, why are you still here?"

"I have to stay here until you two are done."

"…You did have someone start those fires didn't you?" Akira demanded.

"I did not, Akira. Mahiro and I are coming over for dinner, remember?"

"Dinner isn't for another couple of hours."

"No, but Mahiro went home with Yuya so I was just going to go home with you."

"Joy for me," he muttered softly. "Hotaru, are you done yet?"

"Eh?"

"No, he's not. He was too busy staring at the butterfly outside the window."

Akira refrained from saying anything. He merely bent his head so his forehead was resting on the mop handle and sighed as he realised this last task was going to take a while.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there it is. Once again, sorry if Akira seemed a little off with the whole talking to himself and all, but it's really hard to keep them in character all the time. Oh and if anyone's wondering and hadn't picked up on it, Mumyujinpu High isn't exactly a top end high school. I just thought I should clarify that because it's really going to come into play later on in the story and I don't need confused readers. Well, that's all for me this week so hope you enjoyed! 


	5. The Cards Never Lie

**A/N:** Gyah! I'm sorry this is late, but my mom yelled at me for not getting all of my school stuff in order so that kind of over took most of my creative time. Also this chapter was a little harder to write because I had a really hard time trying to keep Tokito in character. I'm only on Volume 17 so I haven't seen much of her so all I really have to go off of are scans of the later volumes in Japanese which I can't read and what other people have written her as. I hope I didn't do too badly with her, but at this point I just wanted to get the chapter done.

The only other thing that I really want to point out is that with the reading that Tokito does is actually legit. The meanings of the cards are what they actually mean and the Celtic Cross spread is real. However, each card can be interpreted differently when it is read so if you also know how to read tarot cards, please do not criticize what I took it to mean.

**Disclaimer:** If I wished really hard, maybe I could, but it won't happen so I don't own it.

* * *

Absently listening to the voices drifting from the kitchen, Tokito was focused more on the old pieces of lacquered paper she was laying out in front of her than the conversation about how work had gone that day or the open text books lying on the far end of the table. The various patterns for creating a spread withher precious cardswere so engrained in her mind that she was positive that she could do it in her sleep. Smiling secretively as she watched the Celtic Cross take shape before her eyes, she wondered how her eldest cousin would take it if he knew that she was performing this ritual for him this time. She knew that he thought what she did was foolish and a waste of time, but that had not once prevented him from listening to her when she told him about what misfortunes were going to befall her delinquent sister.

Pausing above the final spot on the cross, a small frown replaced the smile for a moment as she considered Kyo's reactions to her predictions. Now that she thought about it, he always seemed to be amused when she told him what the cards had said, but he had never let on what he had been so amused by.

Shaking her head to clear it of distracting thoughts, she turned her attention to the ten cards lying face down on the coffee table in front of her and focused on the present situations surrounding her cousin, more importantly the question she wanted answered about him. Gripping the right edge of the card in the centre, she flipped it over and silently studied it for a moment.

"Death," she murmured softly, "the giving up of something of lesser value in exchange for something of much greater long term value."

Turning the card set length-wise under the first over, a small smile twitched her lips at the second card's position.

"The Emperor reversed, too headstrong, unable to heed the advice of others."

Her hand automatically moved to the card crowning the first two.

"The Devil, do not let your own negativity hold you back."

The card underneath the first pair was flipped next.

"Seven of Swords, the feeling of being ripped off by others."

Her hand paused for a moment above the card to the left of the centre before she shook her head again and turned it over.

"Five of Swords, crossed swords resulting in a parting of ways, the feeling of being alone due to a sudden loss."

The sixth card was set to the right of the original two.

"Two of Cups, a new relationship."

Working now on the vertical line of cards lying to the right of the cross, she flipped over the bottom one.

"Nine of Wands, break down barriers only when others can be fully trusted, establish this first and foremost."

The second card in the line was turned.

"Strength, allowing one's immediate impulses to be directed by the use of reason."

The second to last card was slowly flipped.

"Six of Wands, a victory, the turning of the tide, the seemingly stronger enemy suddenly routed."

With a quick indrawn breath, Tokito turned the final card.

"Ace of Cups, emotional fulfillment at finding one's destiny, finding the value of love in one's life."

Leaning back against the couch behind her, the frown returned to Tokito's lips as she studied the spread in front of her. Most of the cards certainly fit her cousin and some of the ones that had appeared in this reading had also been present in previous ones she had done for him. The most startling change from the regular cards was the centre card, the card that represented the general situation of her cousin.

Reaching out to pick up the card, she studied the skeletal figure on it, her mind going over all the possible meanings of the card she had the most fun with. It was easy for a person to see this card and immediately think that it was telling them of their own death, but this was most often wrong. While a person focused on the skeleton reaper coming for them, they would miss the sunrise present in the background, signalling a new beginning.

"I guess," Tokito said slowly as she tapped the card against her lips, "that even though Kyo lost Sakuya, he's going to find someone else that will be of much greater importance to him. I wonder whom?"

She put the card back in its place and began to analyse the rest of the reading.

"Well, I'm not surprised to see you again," she murmured to the emperor card. "He's too stubborn for his own good, but you," she said as her eyes shifted to the crowning card, "are new. Is Kyo going to spiral into a negative thinkingpattern that will spawn an intense depression that will prevent him from achieving all that he was meant to? Or is he so focused on the loss to Kyoshiro that he will allow it to block all of the good things that could happen to him?

"You I understand," she told the card at the bottom. "He feels he has unjustly lost to the 'superior' Kyoshiro once again, but at something that actually mattered to him."

Tracing along the swords on the fifth card, Tokito mumbled, "Do you mean to say that, even though they are twins and bound by blood ties, now that they have fought over Sakuya, they will go separate ways because of her and that Kyo now feels that he is truly alone for he lost her, supposedly the only one to understand him?"

Not waiting to see if the card would respond, she moved on to its counterpart on the other side of the centre. "But you tell me that, despite what has just happened to him, a new relationship will form in his life," she said softly. "Twice now, you have stated that there is a new beginning for him, a beginning with a new person who is greater than Sakuya was."

As she mentally stored this information away in her mind Tokito turned to the four remaining cards. "Another normal card," she muttered, tapping the nine of wands. "He doesn't trust anyone enough to let them get close to him; the walls that surround him will always be permanent structures that would take an army years to scratch.

"You are strange though. Kyo has never acted impulsively and now you are saying that he is going to have to suppress his immediate urges to use the way of reason?" Tokito continued in a confused voice to the next card displayed. "Kyo's always kept his temper, but maybe this fiasco with Sakuya was the final straw. Maybe now we'll see what Kyo can truly be like when he no longer follows the way of reason.

"Once again, back to the normal," she murmured, her eyes finding the six of wands. "Always hoping to best the supposedly stronger enemy, this time for the love of the girl that chose the other. I wonder if you will be the same when next I read for him."

Picking up the final card, she studied the one that was supposed to represent the overview of the reading. "Emotional fulfillment at finding one's destiny? The value of love in one's life? That doesn't sound like Kyo at all," she muttered. "Since when has he ever cared about finding emotional fulfillment or his destiny?"

Returning the card to its place, she sighed, "Oh well. Everything will unfold as it is supposed to, I guess."

Green eyes shifted away slightly from the cards to regard the books that symbolized her homework and her nose wrinkled in disgust. What good was mathematics anyways? She had no plans of every using it so why did they force it upon her in school?

Tossing her short hair in annoyance, she looked away from the books, figuring that she would just 'borrow' the answers from Akira before she went home. Resting her arms on the coffee table, she leaned over her cards and wondered if she should tell Kyo what she had seen.

"Are you playing with those old things again?"

Blinking at the sudden question, Tokito glanced up to find Kyo leaping over the back of the couch to land stretched out on the cushions. "Do you not have eyes?" she demanded with a lift of her brow, instantly deciding to keep the information the cards had told her to herself.

A small smirk crossed his lips before he closed his eyes and slid his hands under his head.

Turning from him, the girl began gathering up her cards, carefully moving them into a small pile before returning them to the deck.

"So did you get what you needed done?" Kyo muttered without opening his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Tokito snapped, wrapping the cards in the black silk cloth she had originally found them in.

"I saw you talking to those kids that lit the cars on fire, Tokito."

"Oh and talking to people is a crime now?"

"No and in all honesty, I don't really care. I was just curious if it actually worked."

"Akira got home reasonably early didn't he?" she demanded irritably.

"So it worked," he mumbled, his smirk tilting the corners of his mouth again.

Leaning back against the couch again, the two fell into silence, Tokito getting lost in her thoughts and Kyo seemingly falling asleep. Tokito's eyes began to wander over the pictures hung on the wall across from her, her mind remembering each of the events depicted there or at least the ones she had been alive for.

The predominant picture was of her aunt and uncle's wedding, the couple smiling happily at each other. Fanning out around the gilded frame were the school pictures of their three children and two nieces for all of the years they had attended that institution so far. There were also pictures of holidays and major events dispersed among the school photos, but Tokito was not paying attention to those. She was staring straight at the pair of blue eyes she had not seen in real life in what felt like ages.

Standing up, Tokito walked over to the picture wall, still gazing at the picture of Akira. "Three years ago," she murmured softly. "Three years since the accident."

"You really need to stop talking to yourself, kid," Kyo growled from the couch.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Kyo," she said sarcastically, turning around to face him again. "Am I interrupting your precious nappy time?"

One red eye cracked open to glare at her. "Yes, you are, Toki-chan, now shut up."

Bristling at the nickname that all three of her cousins insisted on calling her, Tokito growled, "I'd like to see you make me shut up."

The matching crimson orb opened as a smirk crossed his face. "No, you don't, now shut up so I can get some sleep before that traitor shows up."

"Why? You do something that took all your energy?"

"Toki-chan," Kyo said slowly as he closed his eyes, "do you really want an answer to that question?"

Her face twisted in disgust and she turned back to the pictures. "You're a pig, Kyo," she muttered.

"No, I'm a ladies man," he said softly.

Tokito blinked at Kyo's voice and glanced at him over her shoulder. Green eyes narrowed at him when she saw that he appeared to be sleeping again, but she said nothing.

"What are you staring at?" Kyo demanded after a few more minutes had passed of her studying the pictures.

"My cousin," she responded automatically.

"Ha ha, Tokito." There was a pause where Tokito heard Kyo shift on the couch. "You thinking that much about it can't be good for your health, you know?"

"I'm not thinking about it," she said sharply.

"Liar."

"I am not!"

"Then why are you staring at Akira's picture so hard? Last time you did that, you broke into tears."

"I did not!" she growled. "Besides, why should I care what happens to him? He was a spoiled brat three years ago and he still is today!"

Without waiting to see if Kyo was going to respond to that, Tokitostalked through the doorway leading into the dining room and went to sit down at her spot at the table.

"Is something wrong, Tokito?"

Jumping at the unexpected voice, green eyes jerked up to find her uncle standing at the end of the table, a stack of plates in his hands. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong," she said quickly.

Muramasa studied his niece for a moment before his smile crossed his lips and he motioned to the plates with his free hand. "Would you help me then?"

Nodding silently, she rose from her chair and took half of the plates from her uncle.

"So anything interesting happen at school today?"

Tokito warily glanced at Muramasa out of the corner of her eye and wondered how much her uncle already knew about what had happened at school. Choosing the safer topic, she nodded. "The Crimson King made an announcement about a huge school project for the fair in June," she answered, putting a plate down.

"Ah, yes, I had heard about that."

A frown touched the girl's face before she shrugged it away. None of the kids on the street had been able to figure it out, but they were all positive that Muramasa could read minds. It was the only explanation they could come up with for how he knew almost everything that went on in the city.

"So is the drove going to participate?"

Tokito nodded as she put down the last plate. "Yes, we're having a meeting tonight at the park to decide on what we should do."

A smile returned to Muramasa's face. "Ah, that should be interesting," he said softly as he turned back to the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready shortly, Tokito. You can just stay at the table if you like."

Returning to her chair, Tokito pondered over whether or not her uncle knew of the other event that happened at the school. He would have known about Akira's detention because the school would have called the house to inform his parents of it, but did he know about the fire in the parking lot?

Drumming her fingers on the table, she rolled around the information that could be used against her to prove she had anything to do with the fires and began to work out a strategy to keep her from being discovered. Kyo was the biggest threat, having seen her talking to the boys who set the fires, but, as she had said before, talking to people was not a crime. She could brush that accusation aside easily by saying that she was talking to the boys about a project in their history class and it would hold up since she had talked to them about it.

A small smirk crossed her face as she wondered if telling the boys that she would inform the teacher they were cheating on their assignments if they did not set the fires was really considered talking to them.

Glancing up when she heard someone walk into the room, Tokito's eyes narrowed as the only other problem she could think of walked into the room. Akira suspected that Tokito had something to do with the fires, but she could avoid that with the simple fact that the two of them were always at each other's throats.

"Are you just sitting there waiting to be served?" he demanded, stopping in the doorway.

Taking the incentive, Tokito lounged comfortably in her chair and waved her hand at the kitchen. "Of course, why don't you go get me my food, boy?"

"When hell freezes over."

"Did I give you a choice? Now get and bring me back my food!" Tokito commanded.

"I said no, you little-"

"Dinner's ready!" a happy voice called, silencing the both of them.

Both cousins looked towards the door leading to the kitchen and the woman who walked into the room carrying a large covered tray.

"Akira, sweetie, would you please go help your father bring in the rest of the food?" Mayumi asked with a smile.

Tokito tried not to snicker when Akira bristled slightly, knowing that he was thinking of what they had been talking about.

"Come now, sweetie, go help Father."

Akira sighed softly and nodded. "Yes, Mother," he murmured as he walked past her to the kitchen.

Placing the tray down in the centre of the table, Mayumi glanced at Tokito. "Did your reading turn out well, Tokito?" she asked as she removed the lid from the platter.

"Mmm," Tokito mumbled, inhaling the aroma wafting off of the main course of the meal and completely ignoring her aunt's question.

Mayumi laughed and waved her hand above the steaming dish towards Tokito. "Hungry, I take it?"

"N-" Tokito stopped abruptly as her stomach made a rude noise.

Laughing again, Mayumi smiled at Muramasa as he entered the room with Akira in tow. "Ah, good timing," she said as they put down what they were carrying.

Muramasa smiled back at her, but Akira remained silent as he took his seat across from Tokito.

"Smells good, Mom!" Kyoshiro chirped as he hurried into the room.

"And where exactly have you been, young man?" Mayumi demanded, rounding on her second son. "You were supposed to help me tonight, but you were no where to be found!"

"He was at the Shiina house, Auntie," Mahiro supplied as she sneaked in behind Kyoshiro.

Mayumi lifted a brow at that. "Spending more time with Sakuya were you?" she murmured, waving her son to his seat. "You need to learn to better budget time for what goes on in your life."

"Mayumi," Muramasa said with a smile, "why don't you just get him to help with the clean up instead?"

"Mmm, yes, I guess that will have to do for now. Kyo!" she called, turning to the door to the living room. "Dinner!"

"Not hungry," his voice called back.

Tokito smirked slightly when she saw the irritated look on Mayumi's face and began dishing up her plate, not bothering to wait for Kyo to show up. She ignored the look Mahiro shot her from her spot to the right of Tokito, continuing to ladle food onto her plate.

"I don't care if you're hungry or not, young man! You will be joining us for dinner!"

"Akira. Potatoes. Now," Tokito said sharply, her eyes focused on the dish set near her cousin's elbow.

"Manners, Tokito," Mayumi chided before she turned back to the door and missing the smirk Akira threw at Tokito. "Ky-oh!" she exclaimed when he suddenly appeared at the door.

"Yeah, I heard you, Mom," he muttered as he walked to his spot beside Mahiro.

Mayumi made a face, but took her spot at the end of the table near Kyo. "You need to learn to make more noise when you move, dear," she scolded softly, passing a dish to him.

He made no response as he began filling his plate.

"Akira, don't horde the potatoes," Muramasa said when he noticed that his youngest was not moving the dish. "There's more than enough for everyone."

"Yeah! Hand them over!"

"Tokito, please, an inside voice."

Akira smirked again as he passed the dish to Kyoshiro and stuck his tongue out at Tokito.

"I saw that, young man!"

Tokito snickered at him.

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Muramasa sighed as he looked at Mayumi. "I guess we will never have a normal meal around here," he said, feigning sadness.

She laughed at him. "Normal? Love, this _is_ normal!"

The saintly smile returned to his lips as he accepted the vegetable dish from Tokito. "So," he said as he spooned food onto his plate, "Tokito tells me that the drove is going to work on a project for the summer festival. Do you have any ideas as to what you would want to work on?"

"That's what we're meeting for tonight, Dad," Kyoshiro said quickly.

"Yes, that's what Tokito had said, but shouldn't you go to it with ideas? It won't be very productive if no one has any ideas as to what they want to work on."

"Good point," the younger twin muttered.

"Well, I guess it's understandable if you haven't come up with something yet," Muramasa continued, handing the bowl off to Akira's waiting hands. "It was just mentioned today."

"Do you have any ideas, Uncle?" Mahiro asked, passing on the potatoes without taking any.

"Ah, Mahiro, that wouldn't be fair now would it?"

She blushed slightly and murmured, "I guess not."

"Did anything else happen at school today?"

"Akira got another detention," Tokito supplied quickly as she began piling the potatoes on her plate.

"It was not my fault."

"Uh huh, that's right. Blame Hotaru."

"I didn't do that either!"

"Stop," Muramasa said sharply when both Tokito and Akira inhaled to start their argument in earnest. "If it wasn't your fault or Hotaru's, why did you getanother detention, Akira?"

"She's sick," he muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Speak up, sweetie, we can't hear you," Mayumi said from the other end of the table.

"The teacher just got mad about something stupid and gave both Hotaru and me a detention."

"They were talking during a test," Tokito quipped. "The teacher thinks they were cheating."

"Akira!"

"Mom, I wouldn't cheat!" Akira protested.

"Why were you talking then?" Muramasa asked.

"Hotaru wanted to know why I was listening to him and all I wanted to know is why he thought I was listening to him!"

"Your teacher wouldn't give you a detention just for that, Akira," Mayumi said disapprovingly.

"I don't know, Mom," Kyoshiro said cautiously. "Didn't Akira say that she gave him a detention last week because he had 'looked' at her funny?"

Mayumi faltered at that before she shook her head. "I'm calling the school tomorrow to get this figured out," she said to close the subject.

"At least I didn't set several cars on fire," Akira muttered just loud enough to be heard.

There was a started silence before Mayumi exclaimed, "What!"

Kicking Akira under the table, Tokito glared at him. "Akira seems to think that because I was the one the Crimson King sent to tell our teacher about her car being on fire that I had something to do with them," Tokito said in explanation, not waiting for anyone else to jump in with their side of the story.

"I don't think, Toki-chan, I _know_ you had something to do with them!"

"Why would I do something as low as that?" she demanded of him.

"To help your cousin out?" Kyoshiro ventured.

"Why would I want to help a stupid kid like him!"

"Who's the stupid kid! At least I don't rely on pieces of ancient papers to tell me what I'm going to do in a day!"

"They are not stupid!" Tokito cried angrily. "If you had listened to me this morning I would have told you that something was going to go wrong in last block and you wouldn't have been in the detention!"

"You didn't know that was going to happen!"

"I did so!"

"You did-"

"Stop."

Both teens fell silent immediately as the soft voice of Muramasa cut through their yells.

Taking a drink, Muramasa stared down at the contents of his cup before he looked up, pinning both Akira and Tokito to their chairs. "You both know the rules," he said quietly. "Arguing is allowed as long as it is conducted in a civil manner and you do not lose your temper, but not when we are at the table. This is one of the only times that we actually get together as a family now that you kids are older and I am not going to have it filled with anger. Do you understand?"

Akira nodded while Tokito mumbled, "Yes, Uncle."

"That goes to the three of you as well," Muramasa added, his eyes moving to the older teens.

"What are you talking-"

"Don't play dumb, Kyoshiro. Both you and Kyo have been at odds more than usual and I am not going to be pleased if I hear from your mother about another one of these altercations."

"Like what, Dad?" Kyo demanded. "We've always fought so what's the big-"

"You think your mother and I haven't noticed the fact that you're getting more violent, Kyo?"

"Muramasa," Mayumi said softly, shaking her head when she saw Kyo stiffen in his seat.

"Mayumi, this has to end. They are brothers and twins. They should be getting along."

"Getting along?" Kyo repeated, his voice low. "Why should I get along with a traitor and a bastard on top of that?"

"Kyo!" Mayumi gasped while Muramasa's eyes narrowed.

"Don't insult your mother and brother like that, Kyo," he said quietly.

"Well, if I'm so insulting, I'll just leave."

The group watched as Kyo shoved his chair back and left the room. Tokito caught the look that Mayumi and Muramasa shared, but thought nothing of it. Her mind was more focused on what the cards had told her. "Five of swords," she murmured, "the crossing of swords resulting in the parting of way. The cards never lie."

* * *

**A/N:** Doing that reading for Kyo was murder I tell you! MURDER! Gah, going through my cards to find the ones that fit my story? (beats head against desk) Although now I have the mad urge to do an actual one on him and the rest of the characters to see if anything rings true for them. Hmm…Oh well, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible! …Just as soon as I figure out what character's point of view it is going to be in. (scampers away to play with tarot cards) 


End file.
